The Lotus 4
by KodochiiR
Summary: Four 4th year boys have been taking charge of Ba Sing Se high, making the whole school under their control. Nobody has physically stood up to them, but everything changes when a 2nd year girl from the southern water tribe enrolls into their school.
1. Chapter 1: The First Day of HELL

**HELLOOOO ALLZ! (: This is my second story for fan-fiction, which is another ATLA Fan-Fic! This story is based on the Japanese and Korean dramas, Hana Yori Dango and Boys Before Flowers with new twist! (If you don't know those dramas, just search on drama wiki, they're both really good series.) **

**Oh and if anyone's been wondering about my delay on my other story, It's because of last week's school exams. D; I HAD TO STUDY STUDY STUDYYYY!1!**

**But, I'm taking a short break from my Katara/Mulan story, since I'm starting on this one. (: SO…ENJOY! :D and PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE comment; I need as much feedback and comments as possible. R&R! **

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER OR HANA YORI DANGO OR BOYS BEFORE FLOWERS!**

**Okay here goes…Enjoy! **

** x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

A tanned, azure eyed teen sat in an empty corner of a crowded class room, reading, not bothering to start a conversation with anyone. Everyone else was talking, throwing balled up papers at each other, or running around like crazed monkeys. The teacher was fast asleep in front of her desk, not caring about the disorderliness and loudness of the room. The blue eyed teen, Katara, brushed stray mocha colored curls out of her face and sighed; she continued to read her newspaper.

**2 days ago…**

Katara thought her parents were totally kidding when they said she got free admission to Ba Sing Se high for the rest of her three years in high school. Ba Sing Se high, the richest school in the Earth Kingdom, probably in the world.

"Katara, aren't you excited for your first day in Earth Kingdom high school?" Her mother, Kya exclaimed, embracing her in a hug.

"Sure, I guess." Katara replied, in a dull manner, as her mother finally let go of her.

"You should be excited, sis! This is your first time going to a real school in SIX years." Her older brother, Sokka yelled, "Our family finally moved to Ba Sing Se to start a new life; you should be ecstatic! You're going to a first class school. Our family will be honored around here, cause of you going to Ba Sing Se high-"

"Yeah…but what I'm worried about is..." Katara sighed, "…That I won't fit in with the other students."

"That's some B.S, of course you'll fit in." Sokka replied, crossing his arms, "All you gotta do is try not to get noticed, just blend in."

Katara sat down on a nearby chair, placing her elbows on her lap and her hands on the tip her chin.

"Agh," She groaned, "I can't wait till high school is over; all of it is just stupid boys, irritating girls, and way too much drama."

"How do you know that; you haven't been to a real school, since, like, forever?" Sokka argued, "It'll be fine."

Katara's dad, Hakoda ran into the room holding a plaid skirt and a thick, green sweater with a long sleeved white blouse.

"Katara, The rest of your school uniform has been delivered to you!" Hakoda yelled.

Katara took her uniform and scrutinized it, looking at the expensive green fabric used in the sweater. The right side of the uniform had a golden, carved symbol of a white lotus coin.

"Is that real gold?" Sokka said, yanking the uniform from Katara's hands.

Sokka felt the lotus coin symbol, eyeing it with interest.

"…I think so." Katara said, scratching the back of her tangled hair.

"That is so cool!" Sokka exclaimed.

"Katara, try the uniform on! I'll get the stockings and the shoes." Kya said, running upstairs.

Katara sighed then smiled a bit. Even though her family was making a huge deal out of this, she was glad to see her family joyful, in a long time.

Since her family was on the poor side, barely able to afford things, her family moving to Ba Sing Se of the Earth kingdom and Katara going to its high school raised their hopes of living a good life.

Kya came back downstairs, holding shiny leather shoes and long white panty hose which was the remainder of the uniform.

"Okay, put it on!" Katara's mother beamed.

Katara went upstairs to change.

"I hope Katara gets used to living here at Ba Sing Se." Hakoda said, "Moving from the South pole a week ago went by pretty quick."

"Don't worry, I'm sure she'll love it here once we've settled down enough." Kya replied, "I mean, you've got a new job at the dry cleaners, Sokka is applying to Ba Sing Se's University…and our Katara is going to the BEST school in the world and has a job at the Jasmine Dragon, I mean, we'll be honored throughout these streets cause of her."

Katara came back downstairs, wearing her uniform. Instead of her usual, old and worn out clothing, she wore the thick, green sweater which was on top of her white blouse. Under that, her green skirt was plaid with gold which decorated her white stockings that went all the way down to her feet. She wore shiny, black leather boots that went up to her ankles.

"You look so upper class!" Kya exclaimed, while primping and straightening Katara's new uniform, "I can't believe this uniform came for free along with your admission."

"I look like a spoilt school girl." Katara laughed.

"It'll give you a better impression at school, people will think you come from a super high class family instead of a poor class family like us and they'll appreciate you." Kya said.

"I don't think It'll matter that much." Katara replied, "Didn't people use to say, 'Appreciate people for who they really are.'?"

"Of course they do, Katara." Hakoda said, "I'm sure a lot of people will befriend you on your first day-"

"-WHICH IS IN TWO DAYS!" Sokka screamed, pumping his fist into the air, "Katara, you're smart, which is the reason you got your free admission; people would love a smart person like you to go to Ba Sing Se high!"

Katara laughed at his brother's hyper attitude.

"Of course, not only do you have brains, you're beautiful and people will appreciate that." Kya said.

Katara's mom put her hands on her shoulders and led her to a mirror.

"See?" Kya said.

Katara saw her reflection on the mirror. Her new uniform made her short stature look taller; she looked "high society" and more professional. Katara's thick, brown hair was tangled and curled, that it covered part of her tanned face.

"Ah, Katara, give me the uniform, I'm going to take it to the dry cleaners to give it an extra oomph!" Hakoda exclaimed, "It'll be so clean, that it'll be impossible to mess up, not even a single stain can ruin it!"

**x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

**1 day later…**

**7:30 A.M**

Katara sighed and brushed her tangled mess of hair off her face and opened the door to the Jasmine Dragon, where she worked. The door jingled as it opened.

A black bun rose behind from the counter of the store.

"Hey, Toph." Katara smirked.

"Hello sweetness." Toph greeted, as she fully stood up, stacking a box of tea leaves on the side of the counter.

The girl, Toph, became friends with Katara at work a week ago when she moved to Ba Sing Se. Toph, who was Katara's age, had jet, black hair that was tied into a large bun. Bundles of stray hair flew in front of her face. Toph didn't act like it, but she was blind making people often underestimate her, but she never let that bother her.

"So are you ready for your first day of Ba Sing Se high?" Toph asked, grinning at Katara.

"Yes…and no." Katara said, anxiously, "Going to an actual school in six years seems frightening, especially if it's an upper class school considering my parents aren't the richest type of people…"

Toph punched Katara on the arm with her elbow.

"Ow!" Katara yelped, rubbing her upper arm, "What was that for?"

"You should be happy!" Toph yelled, "I mean, you've been accepted to BA SING SE HIGH, FOR FREE! I've always wanted to go to that school, but I don't have the money or the brains at all!"

Katara continued to rub her sore arm; Toph really did have a hard punch.

"Okay, fine!" Katara whined, "I'll try to make the best of it!"

Even though Katara and Toph have only known each other for a week, they would both act like as if they were the best of friends. Katara's sweet, pleasant attitude obviously mixed in with Toph's stubborn and loud-mouthed attitude.

"Girls, are you going to make me some tea or not?" A guy complained.

"Yeah! I need a little help here!" A guy shouted from the back of the store, he was struggling to carry the stacks of the tea.

"Carry your own weight, Twinkle Toes." Toph shouted back, "You're a man; act like one!"

The guy came back to the front, revealing himself. The stacks of the boxes he was carrying completely covered his face, making him wobble around clumsily.

"I don't need your patronizing attitu-AGGHH!"

The guy fell over, making all the boxes of tea fall on top of him.

"Monkey feathers! Aang are you okay?" Katara gasped, while running towards the guy.

Toph laughed at his failure to carry the boxes.

"Ow…Yeah" Aang said, rubbing his short, brown hair.

Katara pulled him back up and helped pick up the boxes.

Aang, who was also the same age as Toph, was good friends her since the both of their guardians knew each other.

"So are you ready for another day of work guys?" Toph questioned while cracking her knuckles.

"Sure, we get paid by the end of the week anyways." Aang replied, opening one of the tea boxes.

Katara gave a pair of head bands and white aprons to the two of her friends.

"Let's get to work." Katara grinned, as she put on her own white apron and head band, "I'm ready to make some money."

**x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

"So, Katara, are you ready for your first day of being a high school sophomore?" Hakoda said as they faced an enormous building, Ba Sing Se high.

Katara nodded, giving her dad a proud smile.

"I'm so proud of you! Your first day!" Kya bellowed, hugging her daughter tightly, causing people to stare at her awkwardly.

"Yeah, Mom, wish me luck." Katara said, escaping from her mom's tight hug.

"GOOD LUCK, KATARA!" Hakoda and Kya yelled.

More people gave them hostile stares, causing Katara to palm her face in embarrassment.

"Bye Mom, bye Dad." Katara said, waving to her parents.

Katara inhaled and continued to walk towards the school entrance, checking her clothes for any flaws and her hair for any messiness. When Katara opened the front doors of her new high school, she couldn't believe what she saw.

Katara's mouth widened in an o shape.

She knew this school was going to all first class and rich, but she didn't expect there to be a balcony in the main hallway with two stairs leading up to the second floor.

"Wow…" Katara whispered to herself.

Crowds of students were walking around the halls, each of them wearing the same uniforms. Katara looked at the types of handbags, bracelets, hairstyles, necklaces, and make-up the students wore.

Katara's eyes widened when she saw a girl put down a handbag that was adorned in diamond jewels while opening her locker.

_That must have been worth a fortune!_

She saw a guy glance over his watch which was decorated in pure gold.

Katara looked at herself, no fancy bags, bracelets, necklaces, or make-up and her hair was very plain, just brown locks of mocha curls without any embellishment. She sighed, feeling intimidated by these students.

_Just be myself, nobody will notice me, especially if everyone is wearing the same outfit._

Katara pulled out a map of the school and her schedule and headed to her first class at Ba Sing Se high.

**x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

When Katara arrived at her first class she was surprised to see that everyone was out of control and talking way too loud.

"Has school changed in the last 6 years…?" Katara whispered to herself.

Katara saw a lady, sitting in a large desk, obviously fallen asleep.

_Why isn't the teacher doing anything about this noise? _

Katara eyed some of her classmates, each of them showing off their valuable accessories. Then some others who were throwing paper balls, some at the sleeping teacher.

_Maybe school hasn't officially started yet…_

Katara sighed and sat at an empty desk at the corner of the class room, trying to ignore the students' upheaval.

Katara raked her fingers through her hair as she took a newspaper from a nearby book shelf, beginning to read.

_Something to do before I wait for school to start._

Katara analyzed the newspaper and saw a familiar article, "The Fire Nation's 50 Years in Ba Sing Se."

_Fire Lord Azulon invaded the walls of Ba Sing Se, finally taking over the monstrous city. Since then his successor, Fire Lord Ozai, has been over control of all the priorities and businesses of Ba Sing Se. Since then, many people have actually admired Ozai's work of Ba Sing Se, putting it in orderly conduct._

_Orderly conduct…? More like control freak-_

"Hey, you."

Katara raised her head, no longer facing the newspaper. A few strands of her mocha hair fell over her face.

Katara saw three girls, facing her, embellished in all types of richy richness. Bags, Jewels, anything...

The one who spoke had jet black hair that was tied into a bun with two large, perfect strands of hair on the sides of her face. She carried a red purse with a golden insignia on opening of it. The second girl had a dull look to her face; her hair was also jet black, but looked longer. The third girl had huge, wide eyes with an innocent look on her face; she wore bracelets, necklaces, and a bag of pink. In fact, a large, pink bow decorated her long brown braid of hair.

"Um, Hi?" Katara tensed.

"You're new here right?" The girl with the red purse assumed.

"Yeah."

"Not from around here, I suppose?" She smirked.

"I-I'm from the southern water tribe." Katara stuttered, moving her strands of hair out of her face.

The girl looked so intimidating and threatening.

"What? How did you end up here?" The girl laughed, recognizing the meager social status of the southern water tribe, "Last time I heard, they don't let poor peasants like you attend schools like this."

Katara raised her eyebrow and gave her an angry frown.

"Uhh…I guess I was lucky then." Katara said, trying not to make a bad impression.

"This is Ba Sing Se high, school of the richest people in society." The girl scoffed, "The last thing we need is dirty people like you messing up our clean hallways."

_What was this girl's problem!_

"I-" Katara began, only to get interrupted.

"Before you get our names mistaken, peasant," The girl smiled, "we are better known as Ozai's angels, aka the female egos of the L4."

_Ozai's angels? What kind of place is this?_

"What's the L4?" Katara questioned, putting her newspaper down.

"Clueless, aren't we?" The girl smirked, "They're the true leaders of this school."

"Whoever they are, they need to learn how to control this school, cause they're obviously not doing a great job." Katara argued.

"Don't you talk bad about them!" The girl bellowed, making Katara jump, "You should know your place, peasant."

"I have a name." Katara hissed under her breath.

"I don't care, peasent, we have names too, and they're much more of importance." The girl said, "I'm Azula, leader of Ozai's Angels."

_Here we go…_

"This is Mai." Azula said, pointing to the gloomy looking girl, who gave Katara a cold glare, "And that is Ty Lee."

Azula pointed to the girl with the long braid.

"I bet we'll be best of friends, right?" Ty Lee mocked, giving Katara the fakest of all grins.

Katara picked up her newspaper and continued to read, not wanting to deal with this crap.

Azula leaned towards Katara's desk catching the mocha haired girl's attention.

"Don't do anything you'll regret, or we'll make your life here a living hell, okay?" Azula said, tossing Katara her trademark smirk.

Azula left along with Mai and Ty Lee following her each of them having a lady-like walk to them.

_Those girls were like clones! Maybe not clones, in the way they dress, but their personalities. EVIL AND BITCHY. _

"!"

Katara dropped the newspaper she was reading; everyone else in the classroom instantaneously all jumped out of their desks and ran outside to the hallway to see what the uproar was all about.

Katara followed her classmates after eyeing the teacher, who was still asleep.

_Some school this is…_

"It's coming from the end of this hall!" Someone shouted.

Everyone stopped when they saw a circle of a crowd. In the middle of the crowd, there was a person crouched in fetal position. The crowd of people grew bigger and bigger.

The person in the middle of the crowd was being beaten up by some of the students themselves and the worst part was, nobody was doing anything at all to stop it. Even the crowds of people were laughing at the person who was being harmed. Katara couldn't intervene because she was afraid that she would also be beaten up herself. She felt like it was the cowardly thing to do, but she couldn't let anything like that happen to her on the first day.

Some people would kick the person, beat him up with wooden bats, and even throw raw eggs and rotten seaweed at him.

_What did the person do to get such bad treatment?_

"Eat this you piece of crap!" Someone yelled, while throwing a raw tomato at the person.

"Please, stop!" The person cried, "I'm sorry!"

"Nobody is ever sorry when they talk bad about the L4!" Another person shouted.

"Hit him harder, he needs to taste payback!" Katara heard Azula shout beside her.

Katara winced every time the person would get kicked or get hit with eggs.

"Why are people in this school such jerks?" Katara heard a person say.

A shorter girl with a thick auburn colored braid spoke to her.

"Same question I want to ask, but I'm afraid something bad will happen to me if I voice my opinion." Katara sighed.

"So you're new, right?" The girl asked.

"Yes…" Katara replied, "Why is this school so messed up?"

"L4…They make a mess out of everything, it's like they have total control over the school." The girl sighed.

"Why doesn't anyone here make an effort to do anything about this?" Katara asked, "This school has teachers, doesn't it? Why don't they do anything?"

"Because Fire Lord Ozai's son and the L4 have control over this school, he literally pays the teachers not to do anything, so he can have total control over this school and do things his way because of his large possession of money his father gives him." The girl replied, "And it makes sense because Ozai has control over Ba Sing Se now."

_Ozai's son must be such a selfish, spoilt man. _

"AGHH! Somebody please, help!" The beaten up guy yelled, his voice stifled by tears.

Katara couldn't take it anymore; she had to do something.

"IT'S THE L4!" A girl screamed, interrupting Katara's action.

"L4!11!11!" Another person screamed, "EVERYONE MAKE SPACE FOR THEM!"

"AIEEEE!"

Four guys came from the balcony using the stairs that led to the hallway.

_They look awfully young…like teenagers._

"Those aren't men, those are guys…in their teens." Katara gasped.

"Okay, let me tell you about the L4, they're ruthless, hotheaded guys." The girl with the auburn braid said, "Okay that one at the end…"

The girl pointed one of the L4 guys who had overly long brown hair, his skin was slightly tanned, but not as tanned as Katara's. He had a green head band around his forehead with two thick strands of hair in front of his ears. To Katara's surprise…or rather not surprised, he wasn't wearing a school uniform.

_Those guys think that they're so cool; they don't need to wear uniforms…_

"…His name is Haru, he is the least important L4. His parents come from the earth kingdom and own many exclusive clubs that are made for V.I.P guests only which is why Haru's family makes so much money."

Then the auburn haired girl pointed to the guy that was next to Haru, "That one is Teo."

He had messy jet black hair with a thin yellow headband around it to keep it secure. He had much lighter skin then Haru.

"Teo, who lives with his father, is a professional inventor who owns all types self-made machinery and sells them to the fire nation to make big bucks out of them."

"HIS father was the one to invent the hot air balloon?" Katara gasped.

"Yeah, pretty weird if you ask me." The girl replied, "That one who's next to Teo is Jet."

The guy she mentioned had spiky brown hair with the strangest eyebrows which had an unusual arch. He held a long weed at the tip of his mouth which made him look more like a common person than a first class.

"Not much is known about Jet's parents but I heard that he inherited their salary which makes him pretty rich too."

Katara nodded her head and eyed Jet for a while, scrutinizing every inch of his face.

"And then this is when we take mean to a whole new level…the most important L4, Prince Zuko…"

Katara saw the guy who was next to Jet. He had long, shaggy, black hair partially covering his eyes. Around his left eye was an abnormally big scar, but it was sort of hidden with his long hair. He seemed the most intimidating out the rest.

"So what about Ozai's son who takes control of this school, where is he?" Katara asked.

"Zuko is Ozai's son, he's the one that is in control of this school." The girl replied.

"He's Ozai's son…?" Katara said, in a stunned manner, "But he's too young to-"

"I know, but he has money and money goes a long way in Ba Sing Se." The girl sighed, "Ozai is in control of all of Ba Sing Se, so his son can control the entire school, bribing the faculty and giving them loads of money and he gives out L4 slips to students who "misbehave" and insult him. L4 slips means constantly getting bullied and tortured by the students."

(**LOL MONEY GOES A LONG WAY IN BA SING SE, I rhymeeeed! :D; Kay back to the story.**)

"That's pathetic." Katara whispered.

"It's glad to see someone with sense in this school." The girl said giving Katara a half smile.

"Same here." Katara said.

Katara looked at the beaten up guy who was drenched in egg slime and tomato juice. The guy looked at Zuko, tears streaming down his face.

Zuko motioned for the L4 to stop walking; Zuko walked towards the guy who was lying on his side with his arms shielding his head. The noisy crowd immediately became quiet, everyone stared at Zuko, curious about what he was going to do to the poor student.

"Get up." Zuko said blankly.

The guy breathed heavily, and stood up making eye contact with the scared teen. He felt anxious and frightened at Zuko's heavy glare.

"Nobody wants a wretched low-life like you at my school." Zuko said, "Why don't you do something useful with your pathetic life so you can learn how to respect your superiors."

"I-I'm very sorry." The guy stuttered.

Zuko gave the guy a smirk and motioned for Haru to hand him a large bottle of a yellow liquid.

Zuko opened the bottle; Katara couldn't believe what he just did. He poured the yellow liquid over the guy's head, soaking him.

"Have you learned your lesson?" Zuko said.

"I-It smells rancid, what is this?" The guy cried.

"Piss." Zuko replied, "It's time you get what was coming to you."

The guy gave Zuko a startled stare and sank down to his knees, held back by the four letter word Zuko just said.

Zuko gave the guy a threatening smile.

As the L4 left, the crowd of people burst into cheers and started to clap. Katara clenched her fists and gritted her teeth.

_How can a person be so damn hostile! Zuko is such a bastard! I hate him! _

**x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

1:30 Noon/ Lunch Break

Ba Sing Se high's lunchroom was also impressive. Each of the tables were made out polished silver with comfy looking chairs that had green cushions on them. On the side of the lunchroom, there were different types of food with platters that looked very appetizing; it was nothing like she had before back at the southern water tribe. Katara's stomach grumbled while looking at the restaurant quality food. She saw people get glass plates to take some food from the platter. People in white, elaborate chef suits brought more of the food onto the table, bowing to the students as they left.

_Too expensive, for me anyway…_

Katara walked away from the ample amounts of excessive quality food and sat alone in a table that was far away from everyone else and took out a small box of lunch. She opened the box and saw a creamy light brown sauce with chunks of black, stewed sea prunes. She pulled out a wooden spoon that was attached to the box and began to eat the thick stew.

"Ew, what's that stench?" Katara heard someone say.

Katara raised her head, eyes widening.

_Azula and her cronies, Ozai's Angels. _

Azula eyed Katara's stew, looking at the repulsive dish. Azula stuck her tongue in disgust.

"Ugh, a typical water tribe dish, sea prunes." Mai said, holding her nose, "How disgusting."

Azula's frown changed into a grin.

"We can't have such a foul odor ruining our cafeteria, now can we?" Azula said.

"Of course not!" Ty Lee agreed.

Ty Lee took out a small bottle of perfume from her uniform pocket and began to spray it around Katara's food.

Katara immediately covered her food, protecting it from being contaminated by the perfume itself.

Ty Lee gave Katara a smug grin, "Much better."

Azula gave Mai and Ty Lee low fives as they walked away from Katara's table.

"Can I try some of that?"

Katara saw the same girl who told her all about the L4.

"Uh…sure." Katara said, making eye contact.

The girl had a nice smile to her face, with her long auburn colored braid complementing her features.

_She was really pretty._

The girl took out a separate spoon from her pocket and took a spoon full of Katara's sea prunes.

"Hey, this is really good!" The girl said, "What is it?"

"Stewed sea prunes." Katara said in a bored manner.

"This is so much better than the food here." The girl smiled, "It has a nice exotic taste to it."

Katara continued to eat the rest of the stew.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot to introduce myself." The girl laughed, "I'm Song."

"Hi, Song, you probably wouldn't care but my name's Katara." Katara stated.

"That's a pretty name, are you from the water tribe?" Song asked.

Katara realized that this Song girl had a very different attitude from the rest of the spoiled students that go here.

"Yeah, the southern water tribe…it's why people here hate me so much." Katara sighed, "Cause I come from a poorer place."

"People in this school are nutcases, so don't worry." Song replied, "Everyone from this school comes from a decently rich family, so they're all so uppity about it; the only reason I came here was because my parents think if I go to Ba Sing Se high, my family would be honored more since it is Ozai's school, plus my parents are paying lots for me to go here, so I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place…I guess."

The two of them didn't speak for a while until Katara spoke up.

"I'm not going here anymore." Katara said, "I don't care if it's my only first day, but this school is screwed up. It's run by rebellious losers who think they're all that. I mean, I got accepted here cause I had smarts; this school doesn't even have proper teaching!"

"Shh, not so loud, people will hear you." Song joked, "And please don't leave, you're the only one here that I can relate to."

"How?" Katara questioned, "You look like you come from a pretty rich family…" 

"I mean that you're different from the other students, nobody here will talk to me cause I have different taste in this school and Ozai's angels always find some way to make my life here like hell." Song sighed, moving a stray hair behind her ear.

Katara looked at Song, then looked back at her lap.

_My parents were so proud when I got into this school, so I just can't quit because of some imprudent bastards._

"Then, I guess we both have to stick together." Katara smiled, "Try to stay unnoticed, so trouble won't stir up for us."

"Of course." Song smiled back, "Thank you, Katara."

Katara nodded her head in appreciation.

"So you mind bringing in some more stewed sea prunes?" Song laughed.

"Sure, my mom has TONS from back home." Katara replied.

"IT'S THE L4!" Someone yelled.

The crowds of people ran towards the flight of stairs, to get a better look at them while Katara and Song remained at their seats.

_Oh god no…_

Katara saw the four impressively good looking but conceited, arrogant bastards walk down the flight of stairs that led down to the lunchroom.

"MAKE WAY FOR THEM!" Someone shouted, as students cleared out a path for the boys to walk through.

The four boys came to a stop then they walked towards the table of expensive food. Katara stared at the scared one, Zuko, also known as the leader of the L4, just looking at his face made her blood boil in anger.

As Zuko and the other L4 picked up the food, back facing Katara, the mocha haired teen glared at him trying to burn a hole through his back. (**Figuratively, of course :D, NO BENDING IN THIS STORY**)

Zuko took a small bite out of the Kimono chicken and spit it out into a nearby trashcan.

"This tastes like crap." Zuko said, throwing the platter of Kimono chicken onto the ground, which made the ceramic glass of the platter shatter into pieces.

_How can he be so insensitive!_

When Katara was about to stand up to do something, she sat back down.

_I have to stay unnoticed, I can't let this jerk ruin my year for me. _

"You guys wanna eat somewhere else?" Haru asked, talking to his L4 mates.

Zuko nodded and led the L4 to walk towards the balcony which was also towards Katara's table she was sitting in.

Then it all happened in an instant, Zuko fell face wards onto the ground. Katara and Song realized that there was a stray chair that was next to their table. The lunchroom quieted down; only a few murmurs were heard.

Katara couldn't help but to let out a quiet giggle. Song put her hand over her mouth, surprised at what she accidently did.

"Hey! Your stupid chair tripped me!" Zuko yelled to Song.

"I'm sorry." Song said quietly, bowing to Zuko.

"You freak, apologizing isn't going to be enough." Azula said while walking towards Song, the rest of Ozai's angels followed after her.

"Zuko, let me give you a hand." Mai smiled, extending an arm towards Zuko.

_Flirt._

"I can get up myself." Zuko said, then he felt his nose, it was bleeding.

The scared teen gave Song a bone chilling glare.

Song's eyes widened even more when she saw blood dripping down his right nostril, "Zuko! Please forgive me, It was an accident! I'll do anything to help!"

Zuko touched his nose again and saw his bloodstained fingers, "You call this an accident?"

"I didn't mean to." Song said, afraid of what Zuko was going to do next.

Zuko gritted his teeth in anger, "Well then, why don't I give you a nose to match mines."

When he was about to give Song a bloodsucking punch to her nose Katara stood up from her table.

"Stop!" Katara said in a barely audible voice.

Zuko realized where the noise was coming from and saw a girl with chocolate curls, partially hiding her face. Her wide, azure eyes showed her innocence.

"Please stop." Katara said again, in a louder voice.

Zuko gave Katara a smug grin.

"I know exactly who you are, water tribe trash." Zuko said, "If you're going to attend my school, I suggest you learn your place."

Katara gave Zuko a straight stare, not bothering to say anything.

"Come on, Zuko, let's go, this isn't worth it." Katara heard Jet say.

_Why is he stopping this?_

Zuko shot Katara a glare before the L4 left.

"Hey, peasant, learn to show some respect." Azula scowled, "Before something terrible happens to you and that little friend of yours."

Song gave Azula an upset look and sank down to her knees as Azula and her friends left. Tears dripped down Song's pale cheeks as Katara comforted her.

"I shouldn't be crying like this…" Song said quietly, "But I can't stand his provoking behavior, he's so terrifying, If anyone does something wrong to offend him, he makes sure the school goes after that person by harassing them, torturing them, doing anything bad to them for revenge. And those people who earn the L4 slips…usually leave this school because the bullying and taunting for them goes too far…I'm so sorry."

"For what?" Katara replied, "If anyone should be sorry, it should be Zuko. So don't take it out on yourself."

"Katara, when did you get to be such a strong person?" Song asked, wiping off her tears.

"It's because I'm a strong weed." Katara said pulling Song back up, "If anyone in this school tries to mess with me, they'll regret it. I don't care what the L4 does to me; I'm not scared of those conceited hotheads."

**x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

** 6:21 P.M/ Jasmine Dragon Tea Shop**

"So, sweetness how was your first day of school?" Toph asked, grinning.

"Terrible, Terrible, Terrible!" Katara sighed, plopping a tea bag into a hot cup of water, "You won't believe what happened at my first day."

Toph sat across from Katara.

"So what happened? Give me all the juicy details." Toph said crossing her arms on the dining table she was sitting in.

The door jingled and Katara saw Aang come inside.

"Hello Twinkle-toes, Sweetness is about to tell us her story about school." Toph said.

Because Toph was blind she could recognize the distinct sounds of peoples' footsteps, so she could tell who the person was.

Aang sat next to Katara, across from Toph.

"So what happened?" Aang began, "Was Ba Sing Se high huge? Did you make new friends? Did you learn anything new? How many floors to the school are they? Oooh! Oooh! Does your school have room serv-"

"Can it, Twinkles!" Toph yelled, "Let Katara tell her story."

"Sorry!" Aang whispered with an innocent grin on his face.

"Okay so when I went to my first class…" Katara started.

Katara told them all about the L4 and a person getting beaten up for talking against the L4. She also told them about her new friend accidently tripping the lead L4 with her chair.

"...I mean, they're all just so spoiled! Their parents obviously must not care at all what they do at school and how they treat others. They apparently weren't taught common manners when they were little kids! Immature freaks!" Katara exclaimed, fists clenched.

"Woah, sweetness, I've never seen you so pumped up about something before." Toph said, "So, want me to help you kick some ass tomorrow?"

"No, I don't want to drag you into this and besides I don't want to stoop to their level." Katara said as she drank her tea.

"Yeah, but those guys need to be taught a lesson." Aang disagreed.

The door jingled again; five elderly men came into the shop.

"Gyatso!" Aang yelled, running up to one of the men, who was dressed in an orange cloak.

"Hello Aang." Gyatso greeted.

The five elders, Gyatso, Jeong Jeong, Piandao, Pakku, and Bumi would always visit the Jasmine dragon almost every day, keeping the three teenagers company. These weren't just any ordinary men, they were members of a secret (not really) society called The Order of The White Lotus. Each of the men had something unique and different about them. Gyatso was Aang's legal guardian who was a trained monk. Jeong Jeong was an ex fire nation general who fled the fire nation army, giving him the nickname, the Desserter. Piandao was trained martial artist who also came from the fire nation. The one Katara could relate to the most was Pakku; he came from the northern water tribe and moved to Ba Sing Se so he could settle down. Bumi, who used to be King of Omashu, got his land taken away from the fire nation, so he came to Ba Sing Se to also reside. Katara could have sworn that Bumi was on cactus juice or some sort of funky drug. There were originally six members of the white lotus, but the sixth member unknowingly left.

The five sat around a table that was next to Katara's.

"So, what would you guys like today?" Katara asked them.

"We'd like some Ginseng tea." Gyatso said, that was what they always ordered.

"COFFEE FOR ME!1!1!" Bumi yelled, then snorted some, "With twice the caffeine!"

Katara smiled at Bumi's request, "Sure, Bumi, whatever suits your taste."

Katara and Toph went to the back of the store to prepare the Ginseng tea and…Bumi's hype coffee.

After the tea was done being prepared, Toph handed four of the men the tea cups and Katara poured the ginseng tea into each of the cups using a tea kettle. Aang gave Bumi a large cup of coffee with a marshmallow on top.

"Katara you look down." Pakku spoke up.

"It's just school." Katara sighed, "You think it's the best thing that's going to happen, but it's not, it's a nightmare."

Katara told them all about the L4 and the stuff they did during school.

"I've heard of the L4, isn't Ozai's son the leader of it?" Jeong Jeong asked.

"Yeah, I guess leadership runs in their family." Katara replied, "The bad kind of leadership."

"Well, don't let them distract you, you know they're just immature kids, they'll grow out of it." Pakku replied, sipping his tea.

"I hope so." Katara sighed.

"Okay here are your tips." Piandao said, "You guys always know how to satisfy your most loyal customers."

The five elders placed gold and silver coins on the middle of their table.

"Thank you." Katara bowed.

"_Thank you_ for this wonderful tea, more people should come here." Gyatso said, "You guys would make such wonderful business if this place was in the upper ring."

"Yeah, we would be richer than those L4 snobs." Toph alleged.

"It doesn't matter to me." Katara smile, "Being rich in Ba Sing Se is so overrated and I'm thankful for everything I have now."

"Such a sweet girl, I wish more people were like you; all we have in this world is so much hate and disgrace ever since Ozai took over Ba Sing Se." Jeong Jeong said, scratching his beard.

"Don't worry, Katara will fix this once and for all, because she's a tough weed." Aang teased.

"Shut up Aang." Katara smiled, regretting she told Aang about her new nickname, "All I have to do is try to stay unnoticed so my school year will go smoothly."

"That doesn't always work, Katara." Pakku said, "Sometimes you have to learn to face things that you don't want to face."


	2. Chapter 2: I Declare War!

**OKAY, CHAPTER 2 IS FINALLY UP! (: I hope it ends up being longer than the last one and PLEASE COMMENTTTTTT! C: Also tell me what you think of my characters and how I can improve. Thank youuu! X3**

**ENJOY!**

** x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

** 8:20 A.M/ Before School**

"I hate Ba Sing Se high!" Katara hissed, laying on a couch.

She eyed her older brother, Sokka, who had his eyes glued onto a book.

"Why?" Sokka replied facing his sister, "From what I've seen around here everyone seems to love that school."

Katara grumbled a few incoherent words before stuffing her head into the fluffy couch. Sokka ignored Katara's rambling and continued to flip through the pages of the book.

_I hate that Zuko guy with a passion. I've never met someone so…so infuriating! _

_UGH!_

Katara sighed, "You don't want to know what happened at schoo-"

"OH MY GOD! THE SON OF OZAI GOES TO BA SING SE HIGH!" Sokka yelled out of nowhere.

He literally threw the book onto Katara's face.

"Look! On that page! The son of Ozai!" Sokka gasped.

Katara saw a full length picture of the shaggy haired, scared teen with a description of his reputation and what school he attended.

"I know, his name is Zuko, and he isn't quite the friendly type." Katara replied glaring at Zuko's picture.

Katara's parents who overheard Sokka came running inside the living room where the teens were in.

"Ozai's son…goes to your school?" Kya gasped, staring wide-eyed at Katara.

Katara nodded, slowly, wondering why her parents were so excited about such a small matter, at least small to her.

"Yeah, take a look." Sokka said handing the book to his parents.

"Oh my god! He looks so handsome!" Kya sighed, staring at the picture of Zuko, "Katara, you could be friends with him!"

"WHAT-" Katara yelled, then calmed down, "I mean…I already have one friend at school, her name is Song."

"But wouldn't it be nice to personally know the son of Ozai?" Hakoda asked.

"No!" Katara immediately shot up, "Ozai's a terrible guy and so is his son!"

Katara's parents and her brother gave her weird stares.

"What?" Katara said, confused at their reactions.

"Ozai has put Ba Sing Se in order so why is he such a bad person?" Hakoda asked.

"More like over supervised control, he's ruining this place and his son isn't doing any better!" Katara argued.

"Don't talk about Ozai that way, he has this place under good control and everyone has followed ever since." Hakoda said coldly.

Katara had never heard his father speak in such an icy and harsh tone before, but she didn't want to agree at all.

"Ozai and his son are arrogant, no good bastards! They're both horrible! His son and his L4 friends of his have control over the entire school and ruins peoples' lives by bullying them if they disagree with them! Nobody wants to do anything about it! It's pathetic!" Katara yelled, talking back to her dad.

Katara was surprised at the sudden outburst towards her dad and never talked to him like that, but just the thought of Ba Sing Se and its top high school made her furious.

"Katara, don't use that tone with me." Hakoda argued, "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes I do!" Katara lividly shouted, tears falling down from her already watery eyes, "I hate Ba Sing Se high! I hate that pathetic excuse for a school! I-I don't want to go there anymore!"

"Katara we worked hard for you to get into our school, the main reason we moved here was to make a new living and to get you a better life!" Hakoda said.

"_I_ worked hard! I got a free admission by studying! I could just get this over with and tell them I want to drop out." Katara said in softer voice.

"No! If you dropped out where would you go? The rest of the schools in the lower ring are terrible! You have to be practical; Ba Sing Se high is the best school in the entire Earth Kingdom, probably the entire world! Our family will be honored by other families once they see we have a daughter that goes there." Hakoda replied, in a severe manner, "And if you drop out they won't take you back!"

More tears welled up in Katara's eyes before she stormed out of the front door, surprising Sokka and Kya.

"What did I just do…?" Hakoda sighed, palming his head.

"You just sky rocketed her hormones Dad." Sokka joked, obviously not taking this situation seriously.

**x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

** 8:41 A.M**

Katara didn't want to go to her classes, so instead she went to the back of the school and found a small flight of stairs which led to a small spaced balcony.

Katara wiped her tears off her face and clenched her fists. She stared at the morning sky with the sun almost done rising.

_Deep breaths…No! I can't calm down! It's the L4's reason why I can't get any decent education!_

Katara looked around and made sure nobody was anywhere near her.

"STUPID L4 ASSHOLES! YOU'RE RUINING EVERYONE'S LIFE!" Katara screamed at the top of her lungs speaking to no one in particular, "L4…MORE LIKE THE LOOSER 4!"

Katara breathed heavily, letting out all her anger.

"DAMN YOU ZUKO AND YOUR PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR A FATHER; RUINING BA SING SE-!"

Katara heard the sound of shuffling against the concrete balcony. She immediately turned her head and saw two feet sticking out from behind the flight of stairs, not seeing the whole body of the anonymous person. Katara raised her eyebrows and jutted her mouth out when she saw a familiar face with spiky brown hair and a weed hanging from his mouth.

_Jet!_

"Can't I get decent rest here?" Jet said stretching his arms out.

Katara's eyes widened, feeling the most embarrassed she had ever felt in her life.

"You heard everything…didn't you?" Katara said quietly, mentally slapping herself on the head.

"It was sort of hard to ignore." Jet replied, not looking offended by Katara's recent yelling, "Plus it's the Lotus 4."

"What?" Katara questioned.

"L4 means Lotus 4." Jet said again, this time in a smug voice.

"I don't care." Katara hissed under her breath, not feeling embarrassed anymore.

"Can you go away; you're invading my personal space." Jet said in a bored voice.

"Not everything belongs to you." Katara said, "I'm not going anywhere, I'm skipping class."

"I was afraid you were going to say that." Jet said.

The spiky haired teen walked up to the edge of the balcony, next to Katara. He leaned towards the edge not facing her. Katara's eyes widened, then narrowed.

"Why can't you do what you're told to?" Jet said, not looking at Katara.

"Because you're not the boss of me." Katara retorted, "And frankly, you're quite self-conceited yourself."

Jet kept a straight face and faced Katara, looking at her in the eye.

"Don't over assume things."

"What do you mean?" Katara said pressing her eyebrows.

"You don't know me at all, so you have no right to say that." Jet replied.

"Yeah, I kinda do, you're part of the L4, the almighty gang that destroys certain peoples' lives because they don't want to agree with your stupid decisions." Katara argued.

"I don't like Zuko threatening the students at all." Jet admitted.

_What?_

Katara, eyes widened, looked at Jet then back at the ground that was at least 50 feet below them.

"Why are you friends with him?" Katara asked, without any edge to her voice.

"You wouldn't get it." Jet said quietly.

When Jet was about to leave the balcony Katara interrupted.

"Wait-!" Katara said, but Jet continued to leave.

Katara frowned.

_Why was Jet acting so weird? _

_Whatever…why should I care? He's just another one of those spoiled L4 brats._

**x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

**1:03 P.M / LUNCH BREAK**

Katara made her way to the lunchroom and sat alone since Song wasn't there. She zipped open her book bag and pulled out an incredibly large box.

"Wow, that's why my backpack was so heavy…" Katara said quietly to herself.

Katara opened the box by unwrapping a ribbon that surrounded it. She lifted the top of it to open it up. Katara's eyes widened when she saw the vast amount of food inside it.

Ocean kumquats, steamed rice, a handful of seaweed, pickled fish, and a small bowl of tentacle soup, authentic dishes of the water tribe. At the center of the generous amount of food, there was a large steamed sea crab.

_How did my parents afford all of this?_

_They must have gone through a ton to make all of this for me…_

**x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

**3:03 A.M / ½ A DAY AGO**

Katara's parents were downstairs in their packed kitchen, with pots and pans all over the stove. Next to the crowded pots, there was a box with a blue ribbon partially wrapped around it.

"Is the crab done yet?" Hakoda whispered to his wife, Kya.

"Nearly…we need to make this as perfect as we can for Katara." Kya whispered back, checking a nearby pan on the stove; there was a large, dead crab with eight giant claws sticking out, "You know how much Katara loves seacrab; it's been a favorite of hers since she was a little kid."

"Everyone at her school will see what amazing cooks her parents are." Hakoda chuckled.

"I hope Katara loves this!" Kya whispered, "If she does, all of this will be worth it…just seeing our daughter smile."

"Of course." Hakoda replied, "Our family has been in such a tight situation for a long, long time, Katara needs a bit cheering up."

"Yes she does, now let's finish!" Kya squealed.

**x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

Katara regretted arguing with her dad and showing him very little respect earlier.

_I'm sorry Mom, Dad, for acting up…_

"Let's eat." Katara whispered to herself, grabbing a pair of chopsticks from her backpack.

Katara licked her lips and smiled to herself while looking at the different selections of food in the box.

_Where should I start? There's so much food!_

Katara gasped and grinned.

_The sea crab! _

Katara reached her chopsticks for the ginormous crab that was in the middle of all the food.

**x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

"_Gran-Gran! It smells so good!" An eight year old Katara said, poking her head inside her grandmother's tent, "What'cha cooking?"_

"_Sea crab, your favorite!" Gran-Gran smiled, "Hakoda was lucky and fished us a large one."_

_Katara saw a cauldron with bubbling water over a large fire._

"_YAY! SEA CRAB!" Katara yelped, "Sokka is going to miss it, so I can take his portion!"_

"_I'm sorry Katara but you can't eat Sokka's share." Gran-Gran chuckled, ruffling the young girl's hair._

"_He's not going to notice! Sokka doesn't care much for sea crab anyways." She laughed._

"_Fine, if he questions just say that we boiled seaweed instead; Sokka HATES seaweed." Gran-Gran laughed._

"_Aye-Aye Gran-Gran!" Katara grinned, putting her hand up in a salute pose._

_Gran-Gran couldn't help but to embrace her granddaughter in a hug._

**x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

Katara smiled; that was one of the last times her family actually had a decent meal to eat.

_Thank you Mom and Dad._

Katara bit onto a piece of the crabmeat, savoring each bite as possible. The meat was juicy and tender and filled with the same flavors and spices her grandmother back at home would use to put inside of it.

_This is so good, just like back home…yummyyyy-_

"Hey, are you trying to fit in, peasant?"

Katara raised her head to see where the source of the voice was coming from. She saw a guy with long, black shaggy hair, scar surrounding his left eye, across from her table.

_Zuko._

Katara ignored his statement and continued to eat her food.

"Are you going to ignore me?" Zuko impatiently said.

_Yes I am, you bastard. _

Katara grabbed some fish using her chopsticks and quietly chewed on the meat.

"HEY!" Zuko yelled, catching everyone's attention, "Speak when you're spoken to!"

Katara continued to ignore Zuko, continuing to eat the pickled fish.

Zuko violently knocked Katara's lunch box off her table, sending all of the contents of food onto the floor. Katara jumped at the sudden commotion; she couldn't believe what just happened. The rice, seaweed, pickled fish, sea crab, and soup was spilled onto the floor with the box next to the mess.

All her parent's hard work…ruined.

Katara's eyes trembled at the unsightly mess.

"This is what happens when you don't behave." Zuko said icily, he pressed his foot onto the crab, making a crunch sound.

Katara saw the other three L4 members come into the lunchroom. She also saw Song, standing at the corner of the lunchroom, not knowing what to do or say.

Katara saw the seacrab, dismembered and nearly squished.

_If you mess with me, I can somehow deal. But if you mess with my family's hard work, you're DEAD. _

Katara gritted her teeth and clenched her tanned fists immediately standing up. To her surprise, Zuko gave her a complacent smirk. Katara narrowed her eyes, glaring straight at Zuko.

"Now you're respon-" Zuko said, only to be interrupted by Katara.

"What's your problem?" Katara shouted.

Everyone else in the lunchroom surrounded Zuko and Katara, taking a closer look at the two feuding teens.

Zuko raised his eyebrow, not expecting such a clamor from her. Suddenly, he burst into a fit of laughter.

"You're pathetic, why do you even go here?" Zuko said, narrowing his orange eyes, "Don't you see that nobody here likes you, you're an outcast."

Suddenly, Katara bawled her fists up and punched Zuko straight in the face. Gasps and murmurs were heard throughout the lunchroom. Katara saw Song smile a bit, but even more surprising was that she hinted a small smirk from Jet.

"Don't be so stupid!" Katara yelled, "I may come from a poor family but that doesn't mean you can act like a total jackass!"

Zuko held his right cheek which was already turning into a bruise. He opened his mouth but didn't say anything and looked at Katara in total surprise.

"I declare war! I don't care what you do anymore!" Katara shouted, pointing at Zuko, "I'm not scared of you or your crap!"

Zuko stood there, eyes widened, not knowing what to say.

Katara picked up her lunchbox and backpack and left the cafeteria.

**x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

** 4:01 P.M/ After school **

Katara ran up to the cramped, wooden porch of her house and knocked on the front door. She saw her dad open it up. Katara stood there, giving him an uncomfortable look until he motioned her to come inside.

When Katara closed the door, she took a deep breath and cleared her throat.

"Dad." Katara spoke up, "Thanks for the lunch…it was delicious."

Katara handed him the same lunchbox with the ribbon around it.

"Katara, I need to talk to you." Hakoda said, taking the box from her.

Hakoda gestured Katara to sit by him on the living room couch.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier, I wasn't being fair." Her dad said.

Katara squeezed her hands and shut her eyes closed.

"It's me that should be apologizing; I shouldn't have screamed at you like that, I know you guys did a lot to move here so we could start over again…and me getting a free admission to Ba Sing Se high was your idea…so I'm sorry." Katara replied.

"Katara, while you were at school, I've been thinking that I'm pushing this whole admission thing onto you. It was me that was being selfish; it seems the only reason why we want you to go to Ba Sing Se high is that we want to make our family look better in terms of social status." Hakoda acknowledged, "So…if you don't like Ba Sing Se high, you can always drop out and go to a school in the lower ring instead-"

"Dad, I'm not going to leave Ba Sing Se high." Katara smiled, "I'm not going to be a coward just because a bunch of guys are trying to ruin my year for me."

"You're not?" Hakoda gasped.

"I'm going to teach those boys a lesson, not to mess with me or anybody else, ever again." Katara said.

"Are you sure?" Her dad said grasping his daughter's shoulder.

Katara nodded and gave her dad a reassuring smile.

"Thank you for the food though." Katara said giving her father a hug.

"It was our pleasure; you do need to eat a lot once in a while." Hakoda said, hugging her back, "You're getting really skinny."

"Dad!" Katara laughed, "I'm not skinny!"

**x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

** 4:25 P.M/ "L4's Lounge room."**

The four L4 members were inside a fairly large room which consisted of pool tables, a Pai Sho table, and many other game tables, with a T.V set in front. This room was specially known as the L4 lounge room where the L4 would mostly hang out after "busy" school days.

"Teo, you suck at Pai Sho, I need a more challenging opponent." Haru groaned, flicking a Pai Sho tile off of the table, "Zuko want to play against me in Pai Sho?"

Haru looked over at the shaggy haired teen who was sitting on the ground, watching the t.v. Zuko didn't say anything.

"Uhh..Okay, what about you Jet?"Haru said, eyeing the spiky haired L4 who was sitting in another table, playing some sort of solitaire game.

"I don't know how to play Pai Sho." Jet said, "It looks boring to me actually."

Teo gave Jet a smug grin, "You're just saying that cause you don't know how to play-"

All of a sudden, Zuko burst into a fit of laughter. Unable to contain his laughter, he put his hand over his chest.

"Um, Zuko are you okay?" Haru asked.

Zuko turned around facing the other three L4.

"You know that Katara girl?" Zuko smirked.

Jet gave Zuko a weird look.

"Um, she sort of kicked your ass earlier today, everyone knows her now."

Zuko glared at Jet's rude, unnecessary comment then widened his lips into a confident smile. He motioned for the other three L4 to sit across from each other at a table.

"Guys, you know how Katara has always had the tendency to ignore and never care about me?" Zuko began, "Well, today I sensed some sort of feeling from her when she yelled at me."

Teo nodded, rubbing his chin with his index finger and thumb, "We're listening…"

"When a woman tends to show strong dislike for a certain man, it means that she actually has feelings for the man." Zuko smiled, "Because the woman doesn't want to admit her true feelings."

Jet, Haru, and Teo nodded their heads casually, waiting for Zuko to continue.

"Guys, I think Katara has a crush on me." Zuko said, bluntly.

**x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

** 5:02 P.M/ The Jasmine Dragon**

"20…21…22…23-"

Aang scanned through his pile of copper coins, counting each one carefully.

"How much did we get so far?" Toph shouted from behind the store, interrupting him.

"Hold on! You made me lose count!" Aang screeched.

Toph came back into the front of the store and ran over to where Aang was sitting. The blind teenager sat across from Aang and crossed her arms in impatience.

"Okay…we have 26 copper coins!" Aang shouted in an optimistic voice.

Toph glared at Aang, obviously not acknowledging the amount of money they made.

"Katara would have made more than us put together." Toph said resting her short legs on the table, "We are sad, sad people; we can't even earn a decent profit for this store!"

Toph groaned and blew a piece of jet black hair out of her face.

"I'm sure we'll get much more, if we try harder." Aang sighed.

The front door jingled when Katara burst into the store, roughly dressed in her work outfit.

"Sorry guys." Katara grinned, "…Am I late?"

"You're _dead_ late sweetness." Toph said getting up from her position, "So how was your day at Ba Sing Se high?"

"You're not going to believe what happened; I was surprised…but happy at the same time." Katara smiled.

"Did you get through school without any trouble?" Aang asked, hoping Zuko didn't do any harm.

"Not really…but it started like this…"

Katara began to tell the two about her "messy" confrontation with Zuko.

**x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

** 4:31 P.M/ The Jasmine Dragon**

"What?" Haru shouted, thinking that his L4 leader has finally gone nuts.

Teo choked on a fire flake that he swallowed while Jet raised his eyebrows.

"Didn't you hear, Katara has feelings for me." Zuko chuckled, "I mean, why else would she scream at me like that?"

"…Because maybe she HATES you?" Jet said, "Emphasis on the hate."

"Jet, every girl in this school has feelings for the L4 leader; Katara…she just expresses hers in a different way." Zuko said in an arrogant manner.

Jet slapped himself on the forehead, noticing Zuko's absence of common sense.

"So what are you going to do?" Haru asked.

"Well, first of all, tomorrow when she apologizes to me, she's going to confess her true feelings to me and the both of us will pretend like this never happened." Zuko smirked.

"Okay…then, whatever floats your boat Zuko, after all, this is your school." Teo shrugged.

**x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

** 8:31 A.M/ Before School**

Katara entered Ba Sing Se high, carrying her heavy backpack. She looked at her reflection at a glass window to check if her hair strands weren't sticking out all over her head. Katara neatly placed both of her hair loopies behind her ear, making sure each of them were secured in place.

"Hey, peasent."

Katara turned around and saw…guess who? Zuko.

_I'm not scared of that conceited jerk; he can shout all the curse words he wants at me._

"What do you want?" Katara asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"If you want to stay at my school any longer, you have to talk to me in a more polite manner." Zuko smiled.

Katara was confused at Zuko's different tone of voice but she didn't let that get in her way.

"Okay, what do you want, your highness?" Katara said, not taking his attitude seriously.

"Well, K-tara, the both of us know that you're hiding something." Zuko stated, "Besides the apology you owe me."

"Nope, you practically know everything about me, physically and personally." Katara replied, "It's kinda creepy actually."

When Katara was about to leave to walk over to her locker, Zuko grabbed her shoulder and turned her around to face him. She gave Zuko a cold glare.

"K-tara, I know you're crushing on me, you don't have to keep it secret." Zuko gave Katara an unusual smile only earning him a shocked look from Katara.

"WHAT?" Katara yelled; a few people by the lockers gave Katara weird stares.

Katara couldn't believe what he just said. Out of all the things Zuko was capable of saying, it had to be this.

_He didn't._

"You don't have to keep denying your feelings for me, you can just admit them and we'll both call it an apology." Zuko said.

"Are you stupid?" Katara shouted.

_This has to be some sort of practical joke!_

Zuko stumbled back from Katara's sudden outburst.

"You think I like you?" Katara shouted, "I'd never like a haughty scumbag like you let alone have feelings for, so why don't you get it through your thick skull that this world doesn't revolve around your arrogant ass!"

Katara stormed off, not wanting to take anymore crap from Zuko.

Zuko gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

"You've just made the biggest mistake of your life, peasant." Zuko whispered to himself.

**x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

** 12:41 A.M/ Lunch Break**

Katara and her newly found friend, Song, entered the Lunchroom.

"I didn't know you had it in you Katara." Song smiled, "You seemed to me like the calm type."

"It wasn't that hard, I don't like people like him." Katara replied, "Thinking that they own the place."

The two girls stopped when they saw several giant words written on the balcony windows in red that read: **Did you hear, Miss K is pregnant? I've heard that she's had several abortions, but a baby, naughty, naughty.**

They saw that crowds of people were surrounding the balcony window staring at the written statement, murmuring and chattering away.

Katara saw the three elite members of Ozai's Angels walk up to her: Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai.

Azula gave Katara a sinister smile.

"What's going on? Who's Miss K?" Katara questioned, wondering what the clamor was all about.

"She asks who Miss K is." Azula said, looking at Ty Lee and Mai, "Isn't that funny?"

Ty Lee and Mai both nodded their heads also giving Katara counterfeit smiles.

Song nervously looked at Azula then Katara, scared that this could turn into another fight.

"Hey, Azula, whose name here starts with a K?" Mai said, looking at Azula.

"I wonder…could it be Katara's?"

Azula eyed Katara and smirked.

Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee shared laughs.

Katara stared at the giant letters in disbelief.

_Will these people ever take a break?_

"Why are you doing this?" Katara argued.

"It's because you won't learn how to respect your leaders." Ty Lee said, "You've earned yourself a red slip, personally given to you by Zuko."

"Yeah, everyone at Ba Sing Se high appreciates Zuko for his changes here and it's about time you learned to do the same." Azula said in a cold voice.

Katara glared at Azula and ran, pushing through the nearby crowds to get to the balcony window. She quickly grabbed a towelette and wiped the red lettering off of the window.

"It's no use peasant, everyone already knows about your dirty little secret." Azula laughed, "I guess you should have had safe sex."

_Safe sex? I've never had sex before! Don't tell me I should have had safe sex!_

When Katara was about to exit the crowd, somebody tripped Katara sending her face-forward onto the floor.

Katara winced at the sudden pain that shot at her forehead. When she stood up, somebody quickly threw an egg at her, sending yellow yolk down her green uniform. Another egg hit her head, ruining her hair.

"Stop!" Katara yelled, only getting more eggs thrown at her.

"We don't want you at this school, water tribe trash!" Someone shouted.

Katara's whole uniform and hair was drenched in egg yolk.

"Somebody get the flour! We need to coat her in a nice batter!" Someone joked.

Katara thought this couldn't get any worse, but she was wrong. Somebody poured a large bowl of flour from the second floor of the lunchroom sending the white powder all over Katara, messing up her entire uniform. Katara's entire body was surrounded in a white, powdery mess.

The blue eyed teen raised her head and looked at the crowd that was surrounding her. The people were either laughing at Katara's humiliation or shouting insulting remarks at her.

_How could people be so low? Sick jerks. _

Katara saw Song who gave her a worried and anxious look. Song stared at Katara, not moving one bit to rescue Katara from the taunting and teasing. She also saw Zuko, Haru, and Teo. Zuko gave Katara a smug grin.

Katara wanted to tear Zuko into shreds, but she couldn't. Surprisingly her eyes watered up sending tears down her powdered cheeks, imprinting streaks down her face. Katara wanted to express her anger, but she was too upset to.

_This is going too far…_

"So, peasant, are you ready to apologize?" Zuko asked, walking towards her.

Instead of replying to his statement, Katara stormed out of the lunchroom, not wanting to Zuko or anyone else in the lunchroom to see her tear stained face.

Katara ran up to the same balcony where she would scream all of her anger out. She collapsed onto the hard floor of the small balcony wiping away her tears.

_Why am I crying? I shouldn't be crying about this!_

…_I'm such a baby!_

Unable to keep herself from crying, denser, warm tears streamed down her cheeks. Katara brushed her dampened hair from her face and sunk her head into her lap, crying harder.

_All of those people…laughing at me…watching me fall to my own misery. _

_It was so humiliating and upsetting...everyone thinks I'm pregnant just because of some words written on a window…_

_I hate you Zuko! You're a life ruiner!_

"You're not screaming out to the world this time?"

Katara jerked from the sudden noise and turned around. She saw Jet coming up the stairs towards the balcony.

"Are you here to shout insulting comments to me?" Katara said in a raspy voice, then cleared her throat, "Cause if you are, I'm going to leave, I've had enough already."

"Nope, I'm just here to get fresh air." Jet said, he held out a hand towards Katara.

Katara put her smaller hand on his and he pulled her up.

_Why is he so nice all of a sudden?_

"You look awful." Jet said observing Katara's flour and egg covered uniform.

Katara bit her lip and lowered her head.

Jet walked closer to Katara and gently lifted her head up bringing them face to face. Katara's wide, azure eyes widened, not turning her head away from his. Their faces were inches away from each other.

Jet took out a small towelette and began to wipe Katara's flour stained face, wiping away the powder off her cheeks.

Katara couldn't help but blush when her gaze was locked onto Jet's green eyes.

"Jet w-why are you-"

The spiky haired teen began to wipe the flour off of Katara's green sweater, partially cleaning it up. Katara looked at her sweater to avoid facial contact with Jet, only causing her to blush more.

When Jet finished, he put the towelette onto Katara's hand and closed her smaller hand with his bigger hand.

"I-"

"I couldn't clean the flour stains off your uniform." Jet said, "Too hard to wipe off."

"I-It's okay…thank you." Katara said quietly, respectfully bowing to Jet.

Jet nodded his head in response.

"Why are you being so nice? I thought you disliked me." Katara said.

"You got me confused with Zuko then." Jet said, "I don't dislike you…I hate to say this but, I thought it was pretty cool when you stood up to him."

Katara's eyes widened.

"Why? Aren't you his friend?" Katara said.

"Of course." Jet replied, "We've been friends since we were five, 12 years total, so it's sort of complicated."

"Oh…" Katara whispered.

"Katara, you're different than most girls here, nobody's ever stood up to Zuko like that." Jet smiled, "So it was pretty cool, in a way."

_Jet's smile is like a thousand angels…!_

_Ack! What am I saying?_

Katara nervously laughed.

"Well…I wasn't really…" Katara rubbed the back of her head, blushing a bit.

"Katara, keep doing what you did yesterday, okay?" Jet said, "I'm sure it will rub off on Zuko."

Katara nodded her head and pushed a stray strand of hair away from her face.

Just like that, Jet left the balcony and used the stairs to get back into the building.

**x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

** 5:40 P.M/ The Jasmine Dragon**

Katara changed into her clean work clothes and told her friends about her being humiliated in front of the whole school because she refused to apologize to Zuko.

Katara hummed to herself as she dusted the corners of the small tea shop, making sure to get every bit of dust off. She did a few twirls and extravagant leaps as she went on to the next corner.

"Someone's happy." Toph said, handing a cup of tea to a customer.

"I call it the case of love sickness." Aang's guardian, Gyatso, said.

Gyatso was one of the members of Ba Sing Se's secret society called the Order of the White Lotus. He sat across from Aang on a table.

"Katara's in love?" Aang gasped, obviously not looking too happy.

"Is it true, Katara?" Toph said, eager to find out about Katara's untold news.

Katara immediately stopped dusting and walked over to Toph.

"I'm not in love!" Katara gasped, "I just…like someone, just as in…you know…"

"She's in love." Gyatso said in between coughs.

"Fine…I like somebody." Katara sighed, "But it's just a tiny little crush, nothing more."

"Who is the lucky guy?" Toph grinned.

"Well…I'm not telling you his name, but he has nice green eyes that illuminate when you stare at them…and it goes perfectly with his nice and sincere attitude…and…" Katara sighed, unable to finish her sentence.

Katara took a towelette from her back pocket.

"He sort of cleaned my uniform with this." Katara smiled, "When…I got floured and egged."

"Well that's sweet." Aang said, "So what are you going to do about your uniform?"

Aang pointed to Katara's folded uniform on the counter that was partially covered in flour.

"Uhh…"

"You could use our washer." Aang interrupted.

"It has to be dry-cleaned; I can take it to my dad's dry cleaning store." Katara replied.

"The weirdest things just keep happening to you." Toph said, then changed the subject, "So, does he look cute to you?"

"Yes!" Katara smiled, "I mean, yes."

_Why am I so happy about Jet all of a sudden?_

Aang frowned at Katara's statement.

"Is he tall?" Toph asked.

"Yeah…" Katara replied, thinking about Jet's tall stature compared to hers.

"I never knew you'd find a guy from Ba Sing Se high so interesting Katara." Aang said, "They're all just rich snobs."

"You're just jealous that Katara likes a taller man, that's probably 10 times the man as you." Toph teased, "His' is probably twice the size as yours."

"What?" Aang bellowed at Toph's vulgar remark, "Gyatso, did you just hear what Toph said?"

"Aang, you seem to be more in touch with your feminine side, so Toph could be saying the truth about both." Gyatso replied, getting a good laugh out of this.

"Come on guys, stop teasing him." Katara laughed.

**x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

** 6:01 P.M/Lower Ring Neighborhood**

Katara knocked on her door and saw her older brother, Sokka, open it. Sokka's eyes widened when he saw Katara carrying her floured school uniform.

"What happened to your uniform?" Sokka exclaimed.

"Long story." Katara sighed as she entered her small house.

She saw her mom and dad come into the living room where Katara and Sokka were.

Hakoda and Kya gasped at Katara's messed up uniform.

"Uhh…it's just covered in flour…you can dry clean it, right?" Katara said, giving the uniform to her dad.

"Of course! What happened?" Hakoda asked.

"Umm…well, in my home economics class…" Katara lied, "We were making a cake and…and I sort of spilled the flour all over myself."

Sokka gave Katara a wary look, almost as if he could tell she was lying.

_I don't want to get my family dragged into this. _

"Well, be careful next time dear." Kya said, "We're lucky your dad works at the dry cleaners so he can get half off dry cleaning."

"Okay, thanks guys." Katara smiled, "I gotta go back to work, bye!"

Katara left through the front door and sighed, surprised her parents believed that lie.

_I don't want them to know that I'm constantly being bullied like this. I have to take matters into my own hands and stop the L4 once and for all. Well…the L4 except for Jet._

Katara yelped in surprise when she saw two guards dressed in fire nation uniform standing by her front door, they wore fire nation style helmets that concealed their faces.

"Um…hello?" Katara said in a feeble voice.

The guards didn't reply; Katara gave them a peculiar look and continued to go down the porch steps.

"Ookay…" Katara whispered, "…That was weird."

Katara turned around and saw that the guards were following her. She continued to walk faster only to see the guards walking faster too. All of a sudden, Katara made a run for it and saw that the guards were running towards her down the street.

Unfortunately, Katara couldn't run as fast as the guards so the guards caught her and held her tightly by the arms.

"Let me go!" Katara yelled, "Somebody help!"

Katara saw an Ostrich horse bound carriage coming towards her.

"Help-!" Katara shouted but one of the guards covered her mouth shut with his hand, getting muffled responses from Katara.

The other guard injected some sort of chemical liquid into her arm, causing Katara to drift into a long sleep…

A pale hand opened the curtains of the carriage, revealing a shaggy haired teen with a scar on his left eye.

Zuko.

**x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

**LE GASPPPP! CLIFFIE! I'm finally done with this chapter! :D I'M STUDYIN FOR MY SATS, that's why I couldn't update sooner. Sorry! ):**

**Please, please, pleaseeee, PLEASEEE R&R/Comment Blahblahblah and tell me what your favorite part was about this chapter!**

**And yes, Zuko is an evil jerk in this story! Muwahahaha! I made sure you guys would hate him. (For now.) **

**Episode 3 will come sooner, HOPEFULLY. So subscribe and thanks for reading! (: Adios!**


	3. Chapter 3: Surprise, Surprise!

**Herro! Chapter 3 is up! (: Now to solve the unanswered cliffie from last chapter…**

…**And MEGA-thanks to the people who commented it makes me more motivated to write this story. (:**

**ENJOY~! :D**

** x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

** 12:20 P.M**

"Put the eye shadow at the bottom of her lid…"

"…What about the facial cream?"

"Oh, wipe that off, her face will be as smooth a pearl afterwards."

Katara slowly opened her eyes and saw three blurry figures above her. She squinted at the sudden gleam of light that shone in her eyes.

_Am I dead…?_

Katara tried to move her legs and arms, but she felt as if a heavy weight was placed over her body.

"Nngh…" Katara grunted.

"She's awake."

"Don't worry she won't be any trouble, she's too drowsy to move."

Feeling sleepy again, Katara vaguely closed her eyes.

**x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

** 12:52 P.M**

"Ah!" Katara awoke with a soft whisper.

Katara opened her eyes and saw that she was lying on top of a gigantic bed that was completely red. Bed sheets that were different shades of red were under Katara. Surrounding the bed, there was a red, translucent canopy that shielded Katara from the sunlight.

_Where am I…?_

_Was I kidnapped?_

Katara sat up on top of the bed and realized she was in completely different clothing. Her worn out work uniform was replaced with something that was affluent and formal. She wore a bright red tank top that covered half her collarbone and showed her belly. Two golden bracelets were placed on her wrists, covering them. From her waist, she wore a red dress accompanied with a darker red belt that went up to her waist. Katara touched her neck and felt a thin, golden necklace that held a golden amulet.

"What the-"

_Why would my kidnapper want to put me in clothes like these and then leave me alone in a bedroom?_

Katara's eyes widened.

_Wait a minute…! _

When Katara was about to make a run for it, she saw an old man that looked in his 60's come in through the door. He was near balding and had grey hair with a short, stubby figure.

"Ah, you're awake, Katara." The man said.

"H-how do you know my name?" Katara asked, "And where am I? What happened?"

"Someone here is waiting for you."

"What…?" Katara whispered.

When Katara was about to jump out of the window before this man could do any sick, revolting things to her, she was stopped.

"Come, this way, someone important is waiting for you." The man said again, leading Katara towards the door of the bedroom.

"Wait!" Katara shouted.

The man turned around to face Katara.

"…Am I still in Ba Sing Se?" Katara nervously whispered.

"Of course you are."

"Then, where am I?" Katara asked.

"You'll know soon enough, this way."

_What's that supposed to mean?_

The man motioned Katara to come outside the door, Katara apprehensively followed, making sure to run for it if anything suspicious happened.

Katara's eyes widened when she saw the giant hallway that was outside of the room. On the sides of the hallway, there were different full scale portraits of people in fancy fire nation like robes, each looking almost the same. The hallway seemed to go on forever.

"Oh, those are previous Fire Lords, they ruled the fire nation with great control and power." The man replied, "This way."

The man turned left to another long hallway; Katara followed.

"Um…who are you?" Katara asked.

"I am General Iroh." The man replied.

_Iroh…why did that name seem so familiar?_

"Why did you ask?" Iroh questioned.

"I really don't know." Katara scratched the back of her head, "So whose waiting for me, exactly?"

"You'll see." Iroh replied.

_Why doesn't he ever tell me straight-forward answers?_

Katara felt her hair and realized it felt unusually smooth. She ran her fingers through her usual thick and unmanageable hair and they went through without any struggle.

"Okay, here we are."

Iroh stopped at a large entrance, with two doors twice as tall as the both of them. Iroh opened both of the doors.

"He awaits you." Iroh smiled, leading Katara in.

When Katara went in, the doors closed separating her from Iroh.

"Hey-!" Katara yelled.

Katara's eyes widened when she saw what might be the most beautiful living room she's ever seen in her life. Red sofas were around the room, neatly arrayed. In the middle, there was a gigantic table which looked as if it were made from pure glass. Opened windows surrounded the room letting the glare of sunlight brighten the whole area.

_Whoever lives here must be spoiled rich of gold coins._

Katara saw a portrait of a woman with long, black hair, wearing a fire nation styled cloak. On the top of her hair, there was a golden, fire-shaped amulet. Her golden colored eyes complemented her flawless face and high cheekbones.

"She's so pretty…" Katara whispered to herself, totally entranced in the picture.

Katara lightly slapped her head realizing that she spaced out.

_Okay, Katara, stop being fascinated by these pictures! I need to find out where the hell I am…!_

Katara turned around and saw a tall figure looking out at the one of the windows, the sunlight nearly encasing the person's body. Katara squint her eyes to get a better look at the person.

…

…

…_wait a minute. _

"…Jet?" Katara called out.

The person turned around and walked out of the sunlight so Katara could get a better look at them.

Katara's eyes widened when she saw that the person had a noticeable scar on the left side of his face and dark brown, shaggy hair.

_Zuko?_

"Hey, K-tara."

Katara clenched her fists.

"What are you doing here?" Katara said, angrily.

"What am I doing here? Funny you asked." Zuko repeated, "This is my house."

Katara's mouth opened in an O expression in complete astonishment.

"Y-You live here…?" Katara whispered.

"I'm the son of Ozai, of course I live here." Zuko said in a smug voice.

Katara gritted her teeth.

"Why did you bring me here?"

"Katara I know you and your family is struggling with money, so I decided to share the wealth." Zuko replied, motioning Katara to come over to a nearby mirror.

Katara saw her own reflection; she looked like a completely different person. Her thick, scraggly hair was entirely straightened, making it appear longer and stylish. Katara's face was caked in make-up with foundation and lipstick to enhance her features.

"Your necklace, 850 gold coins." Zuko said.

Katara's eyes widened when she touched the same golden necklace that was around her neck.

"Your bracelets, 750 gold coins."

Katara saw the thick, golden bracelets that were around her wrists.

"And your full outfit was a total of 6500 gold coins." Zuko smiled, "All imported from the fire nation."

Katara looked at her bright red tank top and her dress that completed her outfit. She eyed it with complete shock, not moving one single bit. Katara had never seen a piece of clothing this expensive in her life. The outfit alone was worth more than all the clothing her family owned.

"All of this is yours if you just agree to one little thing." Zuko said.

Katara saw Zuko come up behind her at the reflection of the mirror. Zuko placed his hands on Katara's shoulders, making her nearly jump.

"You must agree to stop going against the L4." Zuko said, "Also, you have to follow every single thing that I tell you to do."

"…Which means going out with me."

Katara paused for a split second and jutted her mouth open.

"WHAT?" She shouted, shoving Zuko's hands off her shoulders.

"K-tara, since you're not going to confess your true feelings towards me, we might as well get this over with." Zuko smirked, "Besides wouldn't you like a chance to date the lead L4? I never accepted a confession from anyone, so you're lucky."

"You think I'm stupid?" Katara said, "What kind of practical joke is this?"

"It's no joke, K-tara." Zuko replied, "Just look, we could be a perfect match."

Zuko went closer to Katara and showed her their reflection on the mirror. Zuko was right behind Katara, making them look like a portrait perfect couple because of their similar fire nation clothes.

"You'll have anything you want, free clothes, food, money." Zuko said, "If you just accept."

Katara turned around to face Zuko.

"I don't want your pity money!" Katara yelled.

"I. Don't. Care. I-If this was worth a m-million gold coins!" She said while struggling to take the golden necklace off. Instead, she forcefully ripped it off her neck and threw it onto the ground.

Zuko clenched his fists, but took a deep breath to calm down.

"You were stunned earlier when I told you how much your outfit was." Zuko countered, "Of course you care."

Katara paused for a moment and narrowed her azure eyes.

"No, I don't because it came from you." Katara said, "You can't buy peoples' love with your pathetic money."

"Yes you can, it works every time." Zuko replied, "When you give money to a person, they light up with excitement, its how money works. It gets rid of problems, like that."

Katara pursed her lips in anger and clenched her fists.

_How can someone be so narrow-minded?_

"Get me out of here!" Katara yelled, "I want my uniform back!"

"Why can't you just be like everyone else and accept my generous offer?" Zuko said, his temper starting to rise.

"I'm leaving." Katara said, and just like that, she left the room.

Zuko gritted his teeth and slammed his fist on the wall, letting out his anger.

`Stupid water tribe peasant, she thinks she can treat me like crap and get away with it.'

** x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

When Katara left the large living room, she entered the same long, winding hallway she came from.

_Okay…All I gotta do is find my uniform and get out of here._

Katara walked straight down the hallway and went into the same room she awoke in earlier. She saw a thick, green sweater neatly folded next the bed along with a green, plaid skirt. Her jasmine dragon apron sat on top of her uniform.

"My uniform!" Katara said.

Katara closed the door and quickly changed back into her school uniform, making sure nobody would see her undress. After changing, Katara realized her regular shoes were gone.

"Damn." Katara cursed under her breath.

Without any more hesitation, Katara left the room, afraid that someone would find her.

_How am I supposed to find my way out of this maze now?_

Katara went into each door of the hallways looking for an entrance or an exit. Each of the rooms she went into was uniquely decorated and different. She peeked into what would be the thousandth door she went through and saw what looked like an entire hall which was probably larger than the entire southern water tribe itself.

"How big is this place?" Katara said to herself.

Katara entered the hall, confident that she would find the exit to Zuko's "palace."

Katara heard footsteps. She nervously stood there, afraid of what would happen next.

_Uh oh…_

Katara's eyes widened when she saw a tall man, in his middle ages. He also had lengthy, black hair that went to his back along with a long, thin beard that went down his chin. He wore a red robe similar to the portrait of the woman she saw earlier. Four men dressed in fire nation armor accompanied the robed man by following him.

"E-Excuse me-" Katara called, raising her arm to get their attention.

When the man with the robe heard Katara, he gave her a cold, plain stare. The robed man, along with the four others dressed in armor walked right passed Katara, completely ignoring her presence.

Katara raised her eyebrows, surprised at what just happened.

…_okay?_

Katara turned around and saw two other men in fire nation armor clothes. They immediately grabbed her by her arms.

"Hey! Let me go!" Katara shouted, struggling to wring free of the guards' grasps.

When the guards reached the front doors, one of the men opened the doors which led outside.

"Nonononono!" Katara yelled, "Stop! Stop!"

The guards immediately threw Katara outside, making her land at the bottom of the entrance steps. When Katara was about to show those guards a piece of her mind, the doors slammed shut on her.

Katara stood there, surprised at the treatment she just got.

"Why do the impressively rich people have to be so rude?" Katara hissed under her breath.

The azure eyed teen looked up at Zuko's house and saw how remarkably tall it was. The building looked as if it came from the fire nation; tall, red, and pointy structures towering over the other buildings.

"_You must agree to stop going against the L4; also, you have to follow every single thing that I tell you to do."_

"…_Which means going out with me."_

_Why would Zuko want to go out with me…? He can't possibly have feelings-_

_No! Katara that's not true, that can't be true! He just wants to play with my mind! Stupid asshole! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!_

Katara shook her head, not wanting to think about that self-righteous asshole any longer.

_Now how am I going to get back home?_

Katara looked around and scrutinized her surroundings, trying to figure out where the hell she was.

_If this is the upper ring in Ba Sing Se, then I have to go south…_

When Katara left the giant courtyard of Zuko's incredibly large estate, walking was becoming more of a pain especially since she was wearing heels.

Instead of taking anymore cruelsome steps, Katara took the heels off her feet and threw the expensive shoes over a row of nearby bushes.

_Take that Zuko! I don't want your fancy crap!_

Katara smiled to herself.

Being Barefoot, Katara felt the sharp agony of rocks point at her skin. But it was much better than having to walk on four inch heels that would slow her down.

Katara saw somebody riding a bicycle on the road come her way. When the person saw Katara, they immediately stopped. Katara stared at the bicycle bound person, who had a hoodie over their head making their appearance anonymous.

The person slid their hoodie off revealing their face.

Katara's stare changed into an astounded look.

"Jet?" Katara gasped, recognizing the familiar spiky, brown hair and green eyes.

"Hey, Katara." Jet replied, then looked down at Katara's feet which were completely bare, "…What happened to your shoes?"

"Ah, that's a long story." Katara blushed while rubbing the back of her head.

** x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

Zuko watched Katara from the outside of one of his windows upstairs and saw her walk out of his courtyard. He narrowed his eyes, glaring at Katara who didn't even look back as she left the courtyard.

"Young master, would you like me to prepare you some lunch, you haven't ate all day."

Zuko turned around and saw a young woman, dressed in a typical fire nation maid outfit, a red frilly dress with a white apron surrounding the top of it. Two other maids were at the back of her bowed fire nation style to Zuko, one hand rolled in a ball next to the other hand that was upright to resemble a flame.

"How many times do I have to tell you? I'm not hungry!" Zuko yelled, his hot-headed temper getting the better of him, "Now get out of here or I'll fire all of you pathetic excuses for maids."

"Yes, Prince Zuko." The maids said, giving Zuko respectful bows.

The three maids left, leaving Zuko alone.

Zuko sunk his head into his chest and gritted his teeth.

"_You think I like you? I'd never like a haughty scumbag like you let alone have feelings for, so why don't you get it through your thick skull that this world doesn't revolve around your arrogant ass!"_

The scared teen kicked a nearby lamp, sending it to the ground which shattered it into pieces.

"Prince Zuko."

Zuko turned around and saw his uncle, Iroh.

"Why is that peasant girl so difficult?" Zuko said, "I tried everything, I offered her clothing which is worth thousands of gold coins and she still acts like an insensitive bitch towards me."

"Zuko, you have to learn that money isn't the answer to everything." Iroh replied.

Zuko frowned at his uncle.

"Uncle, you know well that everyone at my school appreciates me because I have the richest family in Ba Sing Se." Zuko replied, "So why can't that peasant girl get it through her head that she should respect me?"

"Everyone isn't going to like you just because you're filled with riches."

Zuko glowered at his uncle and slammed his fists onto the table, cracking the glass a bit.

"I'm going to make sure she respects every single ounce of me." Zuko said bluntly, "Because if it worked for everyone then it'll work for her."

Iroh sighed, wondering if it was Zuko's father who made his nephew like this.

** x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

Jet motioned Katara to come sit next to him on a nearby bench. Jet set his bike on the edge of the bench.

"So what brings you here, in the middle of the road?" Jet asked Katara.

"Long story, again." Katara repeated, giving Jet an innocent smile, "So what brings _you_ here?"

"I just came here to give Zuko a friendly visit." Jet replied.

"Oh..." Katara said, her voice sounding depressed, "I really don't get how you're friends with him."

"Katara, Zuko's been having hard times with family and such." Jet replied, shifting in his current position.

"Well, t-that doesn't explain why he acts like such a jerk all the time." Katara defended.

To Katara's dismay, Jet didn't say anything for a while, leaving an extensive silence, making her feel guilty for what she just said.

"Sorry…" Katara said, "I just don't like him-"

"No, It's not that." Jet interrupted, "You're just really independent and strong, and it's nice to see change for once."

"You think so?" Katara blushed, fidgeting with her hands, "Be-Because I thought that with you being in the L4 a-and all, you wouldn't approve of what I was doing and that you would think of me as a big nuisance because you're probably really close to Zuko like you are with the rest of the L4 and if someone like me would treat a person like Zuko like crap, you-you wouldn't accept that and you would think lowly of me, more than you probably would and-"

"Katara, calm down, you talk too much." Jet interrupting, tossing her one of his killer smiles.

_Gosh! I'm so stupid!_

"Sorry." Katara apologized, giving Jet a quick bow, "I-I gotta go home, my parents must be worried sick."

"Wait." Jet said, "You'll need these."

Jet tossed Katara a pair of white sneakers.

"They're my extra pair."

"But, you'll need these, won't you?" Katara replied, holding onto his white sneakers, "I mean t-these are your shoes."

"It's ok, I have tons back home." Jet reassured.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure, Katara." Jet replied.

Katara put on both of the sneakers, embracing the newfound comfort the shoes gave her.

"Thanks, Jet." Katara said, bowing to him again.

When Katara was about to raise her head to cease from her bowing position, Jet ruffled the top of her head, smiling down the Water tribe teen. Katara's face flushed red.

"See you later." Jet said.

"B-Bye!" Katara said, bowing for what seemed like the millionth time.

_Stop bowing so much! You're making a fool of yourself, Katara!_

When Jet left, Katara touched the top of her head where Jet tousled. Katara squealed to herself, smiling as she found her way back home.

** x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

**11:23 A.M; Ba Sing Se High – Locker Hall**

After having a long talk about what happened to her with her parents and her unusually worrisome brother, Katara left for school. Instead of telling the truth, Katara lied to her parents that she decided to stay overnight at Toph's house, not wanting to stir up any trouble.

Katara neatly wiped Jet's shoes clean after taking them from her locker; if she was going to return the shoes back to Jet, she would have to make them sparkly clean. Katara quietly hummed to herself as she wiped down the excess dirt off the shoes.

Katara closed her locker and made her way to the L4 lounge room where she would meet Jet.

**x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

** 11:30 A.M; L4 Lounge Room**

After arriving to the Lounge room, Katara was surprised when there was only two of the L4, Haru and Teo. The two were sitting across at a table, noticeably surprised at the sudden entrance, especially since it was the "Water Tribe Peasant."

"Oh…Jet isn't here…" Katara said quietly, "Can you return these to him?"

Katara walked over to both of the boys and handed them the clean pair of sneakers.

When Katara was about to leave, Haru cleared his throat.

"Wait a second, you're the girl who kicked Zuko's ass." Haru grinned.

Katara tensed, then relaxed, not expecting him to talk.

"Yeah…" Katara replied, "What about it?"

"Have tea with us before you leave, it wouldn't be nice for us to let our guests leave without anything."

Katara raised an eyebrow, suspicious of their relaxed attitudes.

"Come on, we have to get to know you a bit, I mean you're the first student to physically stand up to Zuko." Teo urged.

"Fine." Katara said in monotonous voice.

**x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

After Haru brewed a pot of Ginseng tea, he motioned Katara to come sit across from Teo and him. Teo eagerly handed Katara a cup and customarily poured the Ginseng tea into her teacup.

"So your name's Katara?" Teo asked.

"Yes." Katara nodded, sipping the tea.

The tea had a spicy, robust flavor to it which Katara surprisingly enjoyed. It was far better than the tea they served at Jasmine Dragon.

"You know, I hate to say this but school's been a lot more fun for us." Haru said.

"How?" Katara questioned, drinking the rest of the tea that sat in her cup.

"School has been the same, Zuko always being in charge, nobody doing anything to stop him because they admired him too much or were intimidated by him." Haru responded, "But everything changed since you enrolled. You stood up to Zuko, which nobody's never done before."

"Yeah, and Zuko's always plotting these crazy plans, trying to make you stop going against him, which is actually kinda funny cause you always refuse." Teo added, refilling Katara's cup with the tea.

"Funny?" Katara pressed her eyebrows together, wondering why she and Zuko were so funny.

"We haven't had this much fun in a long time actually; watching you and Zuko fight is sort of entertaining." Haru chuckled.

Katara's eyes widened.

"You people are so weird…"

"You're calling us weird?" Teo smiled, "I've heard you've been talking with Zuko's best friend, Jet, and asking us to return his shoes, which is pretty odd yourself."

"S-so?" Katara stuttered, "Why does that matter?"

"I never knew a person who disliked the L4 so much would get so friendly with one of them." Haru cooed.

Katara's face turned beat red.

"It's cause he's nicer than any of you guys combined!" Katara countered, trying to hide her blush.

"Okay, calm down lady, we'll return the shoes to Jet." Haru said.

"Fine." Katara said, biting her bottom lip.

Katara stood up and headed for the exit.

"It was nice having tea with you." Teo called out.

Katara nodded her head, not knowing what to say, and left the lounge room.

"_We haven't had this much fun in long time actually; watching you and Zuko fight is sort of entertaining." Haru chuckled._

_Did they really mean that…?_

…_That they were having fun cause of me?_

Katara shook her head dismissing those thoughts.

**x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

** 1:45 P.M; P.E Class**

Katara changed into her P.E uniform which was quite large for her cause of her thin frame. Katara tied her unruly hair into a pigtail, getting the curly locks of hair out of her face. She quickly glanced at herself at a nearby mirror, making sure her uniform was neatly worn.

Katara went outside to the school running track to meet the rest of the students in her class including Song.

"Hey, Katara." Song greeted.

"Hey." Katara said in blank voice.

"Everything alright?" Song asked, noticing Katara's dull tone of voice.

"Yeah, it's just that…" Katara wanted to tell Song about Zuko kidnapping her and taking her to his mansion just to force her to go out with him, but that would just complicate things if she did.

_Why would Zuko stoop so low?_

Katara noticed Jet and the L4 playing a game of basketball at a nearby basketball court, completely forgetting her conversation with Song. Katara's heart beat rapidly as she saw Jet throw the basketball towards the hoop, getting a perfect shot.

_Why is it that whenever he's near, my heart feels like it's going to explode out of my chest?_

_Wait a minute…I can't possibly be crushing on hi-!_

"Earth to Katara." Song said waving her hand in front of Katara's face, trying to get the girl's attention back.

"Sorry…I spaced out." Katara sighed.

"Come on let's sit down." Song said, motioning Katara towards the track bleachers.

"Watch out!" Someone yelled.

Katara turned back and saw a familiar face, before she could make out who it was; she got hit in the face with a ball.

"Ow!" Katara whispered.

Katara saw the thrower of the ball and realized it was Azula and her cronies.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" Azula said, obviously showing fake sympathy, "That was an accident."

Ty Lee and Mai shared a short laugh.

"Your nose is bleeding." Ty Lee said, trying to hide her laugh.

Katara touched her nose and felt warm liquid seep through it. She looked at her fingers and saw blood on the tip of them. Katara looked up and saw Zuko and Jet both staring at her from the nearby basketball court, which didn't make things any better.

Katara gritted her teeth and ran past the three girls who burst into laughter, not wasting any time to look back.

"Katara!" Song called out, only to be ignored.

**x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

When Katara reached a nearby bathroom, she turned on the faucet and ran her hands through the cold water. She occasionally wiped her nose with the cold water to get rid of the blood from Azula's throw.

Katara sighed.

_Those girls will never give up until I'm dead…literally._

The cool water felt good when it made contact with her skin, getting her to relax and forgetting about what happened a few moments ago. When Katara turned off the faucet, she looked at her reflection and saw that the area above her upper lip was still red.

Katara wished she could stay inside this bathroom for the rest of the day, so she could ignore all of the terrible people in this wretched school.

"K-tara."

Katara turned around and saw Zuko, who was holding a towelette.

Katara icily glared at Zuko, hoping that he would get the hint and go away.

"What do you want?" Katara frowned, "Are you here to see me make a bigger fool out of myself so you can get a good laugh?"

"Tilt your head up."

Katara raised her eyebrows and looked at Zuko, wondering where he was going at. She didn't want to know, so she ignored him, looking back at her reflection.

Zuko sighed and walked closer to her, until they were about an inch apart from each other. He quickly tilted her head and attempted to dab the towel onto her bleeding nose. Katara instantly pushed Zuko's arm away from her.

"What are you doing?" Katara cried.

"I'm trying to get rid of the blood!" Zuko replied, once again trying to dab at Katara's nose.

"No! Don't touch me!"

"What's with you?" Zuko shouted, throwing the towelette at Katara, "Why won't you let anyone help you?"

"It's because I don't want to be helped by ignorant idiots like you!" Katara shouted, throwing the towelette back at Zuko.

"This is because of Jet, isn't it?" Zuko said, in a quieter tone.

"What are you talking about?" Katara said.

"You and Jet have been talking, haven't you?" Zuko said.

"What does it matter to you?" Katara countered.

Zuko paused for a moment, trying to think of a worthy enough answer.

"Exactly, you have nothing to say." Katara continued, "Since when did my life become your business?"

"You like him, don't you?" Zuko said narrowing his eyes.

"What?" Katara screeched

"Why would you be crushing on Jet?" Zuko grinned, "I mean, I'm taller, better looking, and I have more credentials."

Katara couldn't believe what came out of this guy's mouth. She knew he was an arrogant scumbag, but she didn't know he could go that far.

"Well for starters, Jet is ten-No-100 times the man you are! Second, He actually knows how to be nice! Third, he doesn't think he's the best son of a bitch in the world, unlike you!" Katara screamed, "On the other hand, you're a conceited ass bastard that will never ever get true respect because you don't know how to show any! I hate everything about you, your attitude, your school, your voice, your face, your walk, your scar, and your stupid hair!"

Katara stormed out of the bathroom, leaving Zuko with his injured pride.

Katara never cussed this much in her entire life, but she had to do it to teach this guy a life lesson. Her face was probably as red Zuko's scar itself, but she didn't care. Katara went back to the P.E track and saw Song sitting alone.

"Come on Song, let's get out of here." Katara said, completely ignoring what happened earlier.

"Katara, is everything alright?" Song asked, "Your nose-"

"It's okay; let's just get out of here." Katara interrupted, "I'm sure the "teachers" here won't mind us skipping especially since they don't give two shits about us misbehaving."

Katara ignored Song, who gave her an inquiring look. Song wasn't used to Katara cursing at all. In fact, she probably never saw her curse before.

**x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

**5:54 P.M; Middle Ring of Ba Sing Se – Town Center**

"Ember Island plays are the worst!" Song exclaimed, holding onto a small ice cream cone, "I mean, they never get the characters right and the acting is just plain horrible!"

"Really?" Katara responded, "My mom always said people from the fire nation loved seeing Ember Island plays."

"They have no taste." Song laughed, then looked at Katara's hand which was nearly covered in melted cream, "Your ice cream is melting!"

"Monkey feathers!"

Katara realized the white liquid dripping throughout her ice cream cone was on her hand too.

"You're such a slob Katara." Song giggled.

"I didn't notice!" Katara laughed.

Song flicked Katara's melted cone onto the ground.

"Hey!" Katara said.

Song burst into laughter and ran, Katara chased after her.

"It was bad anyways!" Song yelled, running ahead of Katara.

Song stopped causing Katara to bump right into her.

"Ouwch!" Katara yelped.

"Look." Song said pointing to a figure.

Katara squint her eyes and saw the figure who appeared to be Jet. He was leaning against a large poster.

"Jet." Katara whispered, than looked back at Song, "Hold on, I'll be right back."

Katara ran towards where Jet was.

"Jet?" Katara called, examining Jet, who was facing directly at the poster, leaning against it.

"Hey, Katara." Jet greeted, facing her, "What happened earlier, at school?"

"Uhh…It was just Azula messing with me." Katara replied, realizing that Jet saw her get hit in the nose, "I'm alright now."

The poster appeared to have a large picture of a woman who looked to be older than Katara. She had large blue eyes and a beautiful facial frame. But what made the picture stand out so much was her completely white hair which enhanced the woman's features. Her slightly tanned skin and eyes gave away her nationality which was water tribe. Katara immediately recognized who that woman was.

"Is that Princess Yue of the northern water tribe?" Katara exclaimed, awe stricken, eyes widening in surprise.

"Yeah, you know her?" Jet asked.

"Of course, almost everyone at my home land looked up to her." Katara replied, "Including me."

"She's a close personal friend of mines and the L4." Jet said.

"Really?" Katara gasped, "That must be so cool knowing her and stuff, I've always wanted to meet her in person since I was younger."

"I sort of look up to her, you know?" Katara continued, staring at the poster, "Because she knows what it means to be a real monarch, unlike Fire lord Ozai. She once came to the southern water tribe to give us a speech about what it was like for her being princess and the struggles it came with, it was inspiring, plus she's really beautiful."

"You're in luck then." Jet said.

"Huh?"

"Yue is coming to Ba Sing Se for a friendly visit, for the first time in 11 years." Jet replied, "I might be able to set you up with her."

"Really? Are you serious?" Katara exclaimed.

"Yeah, Two days from now after school, me and the L4 will pick her up from the Ba Sing Se Monerail station, you can come with us if you want, since it means so much for you to meet her in person." Jet smiled.

Katara's mouth jutted open.

"I'm serious; just meet us at the Ba Sing Se station, at the front." Jet laughed, "You know where that is, right?"

Katara nodded her head, recognizing that part of Ba Sing Se.

"Hmm…" Katara thought for a moment, pressing her thumb and index finger on her chin; going to the airport would mean having to see Zuko, but she didn't want to let him stop her from meeting Princess Yue for the first time, "I could skip work for a day…"

"Great, I'll see you later." Jet grinned.

"Thank You, Jet!" Katara beamed, as she ran back to Song who was waiting for her.

Katara's heart pounded against her chest as she was walking towards Song. Meeting Princess Yue face to face, she couldn't believe it. She was actually going to talk to her, the person she esteemed for years, thanks to Jet.

Yet, Katara was curious why a guy like Jet would actually bother inviting a girl like herself to meet somebody. Jet didn't really know her as a friend which surprised Katara even more.

"What happened back there?" Song questioned, "Jet seemed really sincere when he was talking to you-"

"It's because he is, he's different from the rest of the L4." Katara smiled, a rosy pink tinted her cheeks, than added, "He's actually really nice and sweet."

"You like him, don't you!" Song grinned.

"What?"

"_Why would you be crushing on Jet?"_

"I-why would you think that?" Katara shouted, face flushing red.

"Your cheeks explain it all." Song smiled, "That's so sweet, I didn't know you out of all people would crush on him."

"I'm not! I-I hardly know him!" Katara cried.

"You've known him for four weeks, since you started school, that's enough time to have feelings for him." Song giggled, staring at Katara's beat red face.

**x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

**12:45 P.M; Ba Sing Se High - Lunch Break**

Katara was sitting across from Song at a lunch table. Both girls were busy eating away at their food.

"Did you hear Princess Yue is visiting Ba Sing Se?" Katara heard a student say.

"I know! Ba Sing Se's Monerail is going to be so crowded once she comes." Another student replied.

"I can't wait, I might actually get to meet Yue." A girl said, "She's so gorgeous and talented."

"Not to mention, hot and sexy!" A guy added.

A few of the people in the lunchroom broke into laughter.

"You see, Princess Yue has excellent morals, unlike some people here." Azula said, staring right at Katara.

"Katara's too poor to have any." Mai added, causing Ty Lee to giggle.

"I bet Katara only bathes once a week since water is too scarce for her." Azula smirked, causing the three girls to burst into uncontrollable laughter.

Katara gritted her teeth.

"Just ignore them." Song quietly said.

"It's the L4!" Someone shouted.

_Oh, not this again…!_

Katara saw Zuko, Jet, Teo, and Haru enter the lunchroom from the top balcony with Zuko in front of the other three boys. Zuko motioned for the other three L4 to stop and walked towards Katara's table. Everyone immediately quieted down, curious about what Zuko was going to say to her.

As Zuko walked to Katara's table, the azure eyed teen gave him a strong glower, as if she was trying to send daggers through his stomach. Katara saw Zuko's smug look; she wanted to wipe that nasty smirk off his face. Zuko ignored her intense glare and stopped when he reached her table.

"K-tara I heard your coming with us to the Monorail station to pick up Yue." Zuko said, trying to brush off his anger that was slowly rising up.

Murmurs and voices of people could be heard throughout the lunchroom, wondering why Katara would be going anywhere with the L4.

"It's Katara, not "K-tara," get it right." Katara said, not bothering to look Zuko in the eye.

Zuko gave Katara a vain smile.

"I'm okay with it, you can come with us." Zuko said.

Katara immediately stood up.

"Since when do I get your approval for anything I do?" Katara snapped.

Zuko glared at Katara and narrowed his golden eyes. When he was about to say something, Jet cut him off.

"Zuko, please, stop." Jet said, grabbing onto his friend's arm.

Zuko raised his eyebrows at Jet and sighed in defeat.

"Let's just go." Zuko said in a frustrated manner.

**x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

**4:45 P.M; The Jasmine Dragon**

"You're really going to meet THE Princess Yue?" Aang gasped, wiping down a tea pot with a towel.

"For the millionth time, YES, she is, Twinkles." Toph sighed, not acknowledging Aang's slowness.

"I know, but how are you going to meet her, someone as high status as Yue, means crowds and crowds of people around." Aang said.

"You know the guy I told you about…?" Katara said.

"The one you supposedly have a crush on?" Toph questioned, placing her legs onto one of the tables.

"I don't have a crush on him!" Katara said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You're not a good liar, you know." Toph sighed, "If you want to lie, you should at least put more effort into it."

"Yeah, you already told us you liked him." Aang said.

Katara slapped her head, forgetting she told them about her "little" crush.

"Well that guy is Jet from the L4." Katara confessed.

"WHAT?" Aang and Toph shouted at the same time, although Toph looked pretty happy.

"You're friends with one of those insensitive L4 brats?" Aang yelled.

"Whoa, possessive much?" Toph said, "Are you jealous, Twinkle toes?"

"No, it's just that—I-I thought you hated the L4." Aang said.

"Jet's actually different from the rest of them." Katara smiled, "I like that about him."

**x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

**Woot! Finished! Sorry I've been only updating once a month; I hope I can update more frequently. ( SATS, SATS, SATS D: ) **

**Next chapter is when it all gets INTERESTING and I promise it'll be longer than this one!**

**So please comment comment! :D I'm aiming for 20 comments by next chapter! Thanks for reading! C:**

**& If you have any questions about this story, feel free to ask. :) **


	4. Chapter 4: Princess Yue's Arrival

**Hey Readers, good news! Super early updating to make it up to you! (Once again, I couldn't update before because of an error XP.)**

**I think this is my best chapter yet too :D (Caution: CONTAINS SOME DRAMA.)**

…**And this may probably be the longest chapter I've written :DDD (YAYYY!1!)**

**So, I hope you enjoy~**

**x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

** Ba Sing Se's Monorail Pick Up Station; 5:20 P.M**

"It's getting late; Yue should've been here by now." Zuko shouted, trying to heighten his voice from the loudness of the crowds, "And where is that peasant girl?"

"Be patient for once, I bet Yue's taking her time, I mean Jet and her haven't seen each other in person like forever." Haru replied, "So Yue has to look her best."

Jet smiled at Haru's remark.

Zuko pushed through the crowds, motioning for his friends to follow him to the front of the monorail station where the monorail would stop for its entrance.

As the four L4 reached the entrance, Jet spotted a few guys ogling over a poster of Yue, posing themselves next to the large paper of the water tribe princess to look as if they were fondling her. Jet gave the perverted guys a disgusted look before heading to the entrance.

"Jet!"

Jet and the L4 turned around and saw a girl running towards him whose head was nearly covered in a gigantic hoodie to shield themself from the cold. The girl took off her hoodie to reveal her face which was almost covered in curly, mocha strands of hair.

"Katara, just in time." Jet grinned, "Yue isn't here yet."

Zuko glared at Katara from behind, trying not to let out his anger.

"I see you've finally arrived, peasant; what was taking you so long?" Zuko smirked.

Katara glared back at Zuko, not bothering to reply.

"It's really, really crowded here…" Katara said, not feeling comfortable with the close proximity she was with the crowds of people.

"So, Jet how does it feel to see Yue in person for the first time in six years?" Teo asked.

"I'm extremely nervous, yet excited, I wonder how much she's changed over the years." Jet replied.

"Being princess of the northern water tribe changes you a lot." Teo remarked, "Not in a bad way, of course."

"Jet, about you and Yue…" Zuko spoke up, "What's your relationship between you and her?"

"Uhh-"

"Are you guys just Acquaintances? Close friends?" Zuko then turned to face Katara, giving her a snide smirk, "Or are you two dating?"

Katara's heart beat faster at Zuko's last sentence, causing her to blush; Katara knew what Zuko was trying to do, she glowered at the scared teen.

"…I don't know." Jet replied, not feeling too comfortable with Zuko's question, "A lot can change in six years, so the both of us don't really know."

"Of course you wouldn't." Zuko sighed.

Haru and Teo stared each other, bewildered about Zuko's odd behavior.

The L4 and Katara heard a screeching sound and saw a short monorail stop at the entrance of the station. The entrance to the monerial slid open and two men dressed in black suits came out. Behind the men, a tall woman followed them. The woman had long, white hair braided back into thick braid; she wore ceremonial water tribe attire.

_**Yue.**_

"It's her!" Haru yelped.

The men in black were restraining the crowds of people that were trying to get Yue to sign her autograph.

Katara was surprised; Yue looked so much prettier in person. Her blue eyes were much illuminating than hers and her hair complemented her feminine features. Katara saw Jet who smiled as Yue walked closer to them.

_Are Yue and Jet really going out…?_

_Aghh! Of course not! Why would I care anyway…?_

When Yue almost reached Jet, a group of people surrounded her.

"Princess Yue, can I have your autograph?" A person shouted.

"Yeah, me too! Can you give me one, please!" Another person said.

Yue smiled and gave each person an autograph, patiently signing her signature onto their sheets of paper.

After her hectic autograph signing, Yue finally reached Jet and hugged him tightly.

"Jet, it's been so long." Yue whispered.

"I know." Jet replied, returning her tight embrace.

"So has anything changed since I left?" Yue asked.

"Not at all, everything seems the same…well at least for me." Jet chuckled.

Then it all happened in an instant, Yue cupped Jet's face into her hands and kissed him on the cheek. Katara's heartbeat quickened, making her blush.

_Are they really…going out?_

"Aren't they cute together?" Zuko jibed at Katara.

Katara ignored Zuko's snide remark and watched the two walk towards them.

"Yue, you look nice." Haru complemented, shaking the princess's hand.

"Thank you, nice to see you again Haru." Yue replied, "How are your parents doing?"

"Great, although they're currently at Omashu, so I don't see them much."

Yue nodded at Haru's reply and the both of them gave each other a short hug.

"And what about you Teo, have you been studying hard, getting good grades? I bet your fathers intelligence rubbed off on you."

"Well…You see grades aren't such a big issue at Ba Sing Se High especially since we L4 sort of control the school." Teo replied rubbing the back of his head.

Yue chuckled at his comment and also gave Teo a hug.

"So I see you're still the victorious leader of the L4." Yue gibed playfully at Zuko.

"Of course." Zuko smiled, "Why wouldn't I be?"

"So, Zuko, are you still a jerk?" Yue joked.

"Depends on the way you look at me." Zuko replied, earning a short chuckle from Yue.

"Nice to see you again Prince Zuko." Yue gave Zuko a respective Firenation bow, while Zuko gave her a respective northern Watertribe bow.

After retreating from her bow, Yue spotted Katara behind Haru and Teo.

"Oh, are you a friend of the L4?" Yue asked Katara.

_By L4, you mean Jet, right?_

"Uhh-"

"Yue, this is Katara, she comes from the southern water tribe." Jet introduced.

"Nice to meet you Katara." Yue smiled, holding her hand out.

Katara raised her head and stared at Yue. She was so beautiful, much more beautiful than herself. Large blue eyes, full lips, and shiny, white hair accompanied her flawless facial features. Katara couldn't believe it, she was meeting **PRINCESS** Yue, in **PERSON**. **THE** princess Yue was talking to her.

"I-It's nice to meet you too." Katara blushed, eagerly shaking Yue's hand.

"So you're from the southern water tribe?" Yue asked.

"That's right." Katara replied, scratching the back of her head.

_This is Princess Yue we're talking about! My long respected idol! I have to make a good first impression on her!_

"That's so cool, to meet somebody from my sister tribe, especially at the Earth Kingdom capital." Yue said.

"Really?" Katara said, face brightening up.

"Of course." Yue replied, "So guys, I'm throwing my arrival party at Ba Sing Se's ceremonial hall and all of you are welcome to come."

"Even me?" Katara asked.

"Yes, it'll be nice to get to know you more." Yue replied.

Katara couldn't believe it; Yue was personally going to invite her to her arrival party. She couldn't wait.

"Well, Jet, aren't you lucky." Teo teased, nudging him with his elbow.

"The party is next week at Saturday and it starts at sundown, I hope you guys can come." Yue grinned.

"Thank you so much Princess Yue." Katara bowed, "You don't know how much this means to me."

After Yue got to introduce herself a bit more, the six parted their ways. Jet and Yue were going to spend the night together at a nearby restaurant, Zuko, Haru, and Teo were going to go back to Zuko's house, and Katara was going to go home to tell her parents the great news.

**x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

** 1 Day Later; The Jasmine Dragon; 5:30 P.M**

"Katara every day you just keep getting luckier, don't you?" Toph said, "You getting acquainted with all these rich folks, I'm kinda jealous"

"Well…It's just a welcome party." Katara modestly said, "…And Yue wanted to invite me, so she could get to know me a bit more."

"Could you get me an invitation?" Toph bellowed all of a sudden, knocking off teacup in the process, "I'd love to go to one of those high society parties, just for the fun of it."

"Katara are you sure you want to go?" Aang spoke up, "I mean, you've never been to "high society" party, you might not feel comfortable."

"Twinkles, Katara will feel comfortable if she's just herself, nuff said!" Toph countered.

"But those types of crow-"

"Will you kids stop babbling and get me a cup of gingerroot tea?"

"Hold on a sec Bumi! We're in the middle of a teenage crisis here!" Toph yelled, to the loony member of the Order of the White Lotus.

"Katara you shouldn't listen to a person who obviously doesn't know how to treat her costumers right!" Aang exclaimed, pouring a cup of the gingerroot tea for Bumi.

"Well, I'm not the one discouraging her!" Toph counteracted, blowing her hair off her face.

"Guys!" Katara interrupted, "This isn't helping…"

"Sorry, Katara." Aang sighed, "I just don't feel too good about this party of yours you're going to."

"Aww, isn't that sweet Aang is looking out for you, Katara." Bumi said, getting into a fit a snorting laughter.

Katara laughed while Aang lightly blushed at the statement.

"Aww, Twinkle toes, your heart is beating impressively fast today." Toph commented.

"What-I-It's not!" Aang argued, "What are you saying?"

"And you're an awful liar, you know that?" Toph laughed.

Aang blushed even more, his cheeks turning a rosy pink. The boy quickly went to the backroom of the store not wanting to make a bigger fool out of himself.

"Quit teasing him Toph." Katara smiled, "He's going to explode any second if his cheeks get any redder."

"That explains his little crush on you." Toph whispered to Katara.

The two girls didn't say anything to each other for a while. Katara placed her fingers on the bottom of her chin, her straight stare turning into a generous smile.

"Aww! That's so adorable." Katara laughed, taking in the news of Aang's crush on her.

Toph raised her eyebrows, surprised at Katara's reaction.

"You mean you're not totally disgusted?" Toph gasped.

"No, I think it's kind of cute, the way Aang acts towards me." Katara giggled, "No wonder."

"Sweetness, you are the weirdest girl I've ever met." Toph said, shaking her head.

The two girls were quiet for a few seconds. All of a sudden the two burst into a series of laughs and giggles.

Aang came back from the back room after hearing the laughter from the two girls.

"What's so funny, guys?" Aang asked, placing a box of tea leaves on a nearby counter.

"Nothing." Katara and Toph spoke at the same time, trying to hide their laughs.

"Well, Aang, Toph just told Katara that you had a cru-"

"Bumi! No!" Toph shouted, covering the old man's mouth, "It's supposed to be a secret."

"What is it?" Aang pleaded, "Come on, tell me!"

"No, Twinkles." Toph smirked, "You don't need to know."

"Please?" Aang begged, "Katara-what did she say?"

Katara gave Aang a smile and shook her head, not wanting to tell about Aang's little crush.

"Toph, what are you trying to get out of this?" Aang urged the blind teenager.

"Nothing, nothing at all." Toph grinned.

Aang groaned in frustration and left the store once again.

**x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

** 5 Day Later; Ba Sing Se High School; Lunch break; 12:54 P.M**

Katara opened her lunch box of ocean kumquats and inhaled the fresh scent of the food. Five days passed and she hasn't gotten any kind of harassment from Zuko since then which made Katara feel more relaxed.

"Katara, so you're really going to Princess Yue's arrival party?" Song asked.

Katara nodded her head while eating her food, "It's all because of Jet."

"That must be so great, meeting the northern Water tribe princess in person." Song smiled, "Is she nice?"

"Very." Katara replied, "And she's so-"

"You're going to Yue's party?"

Katara turned around and saw Azula, with Ty Lee and Mai following behind her. As much as Katara wanted to ignore the three girls, she didn't want to get into a fight so she nodded her head.

"Oh, what a surprise." Mai said, in her monotonous voice.

_What are they trying to get at?_

"Katara since you don't seem to know much about high society parties, let alone anything at all." Azula began, "Let me give you a couple of pointers before you go make a fool of yourself to Yue's party."

"Um, It's okay I don't need any." Katara replied, trying to get Azula to leave her lunch table.

"But what if you embarrass yourself, by wearing the wrong type of clothes to the occasion, I mean Yue wouldn't like that; you would look so different from everyone else and that would bring shame to such a high class party." Azula sighed.

Katara stifled a sigh, knowing what Azula said was true. She hated to admit it but Azula did know way more about high society than Katara would ever know.

"Fine." Katara replied, "What are your "pointers"?"

"First of all since this party is probably going to be a social gathering, you don't have to dress in your best attire." Azula said while eyeing her manicured nails, "Yue's arrival party is going to be pretty casual compared to most of the high class parties she would hold. If you southern water tribe peasants don't know what casual means, I'll be kind enough to give you a definition. It means that you dress as you would normally dress, but not too scraggly, you need to be at least presentable."

Katara nodded her head.

"Well, see you at the party." Azula smirked, motioning for Ty Lee and Mai to follow her.

After Ozai's angels were out of their sight, Song spoke up.

"What was that all about?" Song asked.

Katara shrugged then replied, "Should I trust her?"

"Azula may be a spawn of the devil, no offence." Song giggled, "But she did give you pretty in depth advice…"

"Well, I don't know a thing about these types of parties, so maybe Azula's advice is all I have…" Katara replied, "So, I guess it's casual."

**x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

**1 Day Later; Lower ring of Ba Sing Se; Katara's House; Before Yue's party; 6:34 P.M**

"Mom, I don't need to dress too nice!" Katara groaned, "It's just a "social" gathering!"

Katara's mom, Kya was sorting through different types of outfits they had back at the Southern Water tribe which looked a bit too tacky in Katara's opinion. The outfits also did look out of place and were fairly cheap to Katara's dismay.

"I'll just wear this." Katara said, grabbing an old, blue dress that came with puffy, blue under stockings.

"Are you sure, because this is your first time at a high society party, you need to look your best!" Kya grinned.

"She is right, Katara." Katara's dad added.

"I'm sure guys; everyone else is going to be dressing normally, so I should, just to blend in." Katara replied.

"Ooh! Ooh!"

Katara saw Sokka, who came running into her room.

"Little sis, you should totally wear Mom's betrothal necklace!" Sokka exclaimed, holding onto a small necklace with a fairly large, blue orb that was adhered to it.

After Katara got dressed, Hakoda tied the betrothal necklace onto Katara's neck.

"You look so beautiful!" Hakoda and Kya screamed at the same time.

"I can't believe my daughter is going to be acquainted with all these wealthy, high society folks!" Kya squealed, while squishing Katara into a tight hug, "I'm so proud of you, Katara!"

"Thank you, Mom." Katara said, while struggling to get air from the constricted hug.

"Katara, go make some boys happy!" Sokka yelled, "If my charms on the girls worked back at the South Pole, then I'm sure you'll find a date in no time!"

"Uh, sure…Bro." Katara said, unwringing herself from her mom's tight hug.

"Do you have everything you need?" Hakoda asked.

"Yes Dad." Katara smiled, giving her father a hug.

"Are you sure?" Kya added.

"I don't really need to bring anything, it's just a party." Katara grinned.

"Make Yue happy." Sokka said, "Oh! And ask if she's single! I'd love to go on a date with her!"

"In your dreams, Sokka!" Katara laughed, "Bye guys, see you later!"

Katara waved to parents, who waved to her in return. It was always nice to be close with your family, especially if you were adjusting to a new environment. It sometimes made Katara feel lucky that she had such loving and understanding parents like Kya and Hakoda and an unusually clingy brother like Sokka.

Before Katara left the front door, she made sure her unruly hair was in place, including her hair loopies. She had to make a great first impression on these high-class people, including Jet.

Katara blushed each time she said his name in her head.

_Jet._

**x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

**Entrance to Ba Sing Se's Ceremonial Hall; Yue's party; 7:03 P.M**

"You can do this, Katara, just be yourself." Katara whispered, while taking in a deep breath.

As she opened the door, she exhaled.

Once the large doors to the ceremonial hall opened, Katara was stunned to see everyone wearing elaborate, first class earth Kingdom wear. Everyone was wearing decorative hats and stunning outfits. The women wore layers of caked on make-up with red tinted blush, making them look even more formal. Their hair was neatly done unlike Katara's whose hair was done in matter of minutes.

Even worse, this made Katara more noticeable because she was the only person the entire ceremonial hall to be wearing a bright, blue outfit which didn't look too appealing because of it's unusually unsophisticated look.

_Did Azula lie to me?_

…_Of course she did._

Katara sighed and went farther into the ceremonial hall, feeling more uncomfortable as she got unfriendly stares from several people.

_Damn, why did I have to fall for her stupid trick! _

Katara spotted Zuko along with Haru and Teo who didn't see her, fortunately. The three L4 were also dressed in formal Earth Nation wear, to Katara's disappointment. Zuko was shaking hands with different men from all over Ba Sing Se, including Dai Le agents who seemed of great importance, of course. Zuko seemed welcoming with the agents, because he had to make a good impression on them.

Katara scoffed and left the hall to a nearby patio where other people were staying to enjoy the party. Next to the patio was a large swimming pool like fountain that reflected in the moonlight.

_I have to enjoy myself…I guess._

Katara sat on an empty table which was filled with plates of different types of foods. Her stomach growled as she a took a fork that was next to one of the plates. Katara wowed at the variety of food, which looked so appealing and tasty.

When nobody was looking, Katara eagerly began to eat the remarkable collection of the first-class food. The water-tribe teen willingly ate the food from each of the plates, satisfying her empty stomach. Katara never ever got to taste food at the upper ring which tasted perfect.

"Well aren't you an interesting one?"

Katara looked up and saw a man who wore a long coat that reached to his feet. His dark brown hair was braided and went all the way down to his back.

"My name is Long Fang, head of the Dai Le."

Long Fang held out his hand so Katara could shake it.

Katara shook his hand in respect.

"I'm Katara." Katara replied, giving off a friendly expression.

"Very beautiful name, are you from the water tribe?" Long Fang asked.

"Yes-"

"Oh, Long Fang, you don't need to waste your time with dirty peasants like her."

Katara saw Azula along with Ty Lee and Mai walk towards her table. Each of them were wearing green dresses of different shades along with caked on make-up.

"I've heard Katara's had five abortions and a baby this year." Azula smirked, "Very, very dishonorable."

Long Fang gave Katara a surprised glare and immediately left the table, surprised at Katara's "adulterous" news.

Katara looked up at Azula who gave her a trademark smirk which made Katara's blood boil in anger.

"What's your problem?" Katara shouted, immediately rising from her seat.

"What's our problem?" Azula repeated, "You're an eyesore!"

"Have you ever seen me holding hands with another guy?" Katara hissed, "Let alone, kiss?"

"I've seen you get unusually friendly with Jet, your always talking with him and hanging out with him." Ty Lee said, "It's probably some sort of scheme to get us back."

"What?" Katara gawked.

"We don't need annoying peasants like you ruining Yue's and Jet's relationship, so why don't you get it through your thick head that those two are much closer than you could ever get with Jet!" Azula replied, "…And by the way, nice outfit, it really goes well with your filthy personality."

Katara heard stifled laughs come from Mai and Ty Lee.

"Oh and here, I found something else to go with it." Azula smirked.

Azula picked up a glass of juice and poured it over Katara's head. Ty Lee and Mai also did the same.

The three girls burst into laughter, looking at Katara's depressed state and giving each other high fives.

"Great work, girls." Azula smirked.

_How can girls be so…bitchy?_

When Katara was about to leave this disastrous party, she saw Yue and Jet walk in to the patio. Yue was holding onto a water sprinkler.

"Princess Yue!" Azula smiled, motioning for Ty Lee and Mai to follow, "It's so nice to see you, we're having such a great time."

Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee respectfully bowed to Yue.

"It's nice to see you too." Yue smiled, "Let me show you three a great and friendly welcome!"

In a matter of seconds, Yue turned the sprinkler onto full blast, wetting the three girls and causing them break into a fit of screams. Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee lost their balances and the three fell into the large fountain sending a large splash throughout the patio.

"Even with one of the richest families in Ba Sing Se, you three are disgraceful." Yue glowered at the girls who were still in the fountain, each giving Yue a staggered look.

When Yue walked over to Katara she motioned her to follow.

"Come on, we have to get you cleaned up." Yue smiled.

**x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

**Ba Sing Se Ceremonial Hall; Yue's dressing Room; 7:15 P.M**

"I'm so sorry about them, I had no idea this would happen." Yue sighed, opening up a nearby cabinet.

"So..you saw everything…?" Katara whispered.

"Yes, those girls needed to know the definition of respect." Yue replied, "So they also attend Ba Sing Se high?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Katara laughed, "But, thank you for saving me back there."

"It's my pleasure." Yue replied, "Nobody deserves to have their night ruined."

"Jet is so lucky…"

"Hmm?"

"…To have such an amazing friend like you." Katara finished, "You're smart, beautiful, inspirational, and sophisticated, a lot of the things I'm not."

"Don't say that."

"What?" Katara questioned.

"Whatever those girls are saying to you, don't let it get to your head." Yue replied, "Those girls are the ones who are truly insecure of themselves."

Katara nodded her head.

"Here, I want you to try this on." Yue said, holding up a long, white dress that was sleeveless.

"That's so pretty…" Katara wowed.

After changing into the dress. Katara eyed herself at the mirror. The extravagant dress she wore went all the way down to her ankles. From the light of the room, the dress glittered brightly, accentuating its silky, white color.

"You look amazing." Yue complemented, "Now it's time for your hair."

"My hair?" Katara repeated, knotting at the unruly strands of her mocha curls.

Yue nodded her head.

Yue immediately got to Katara's hair by straightening it; then she got an iron curler and curled her hair into well-defined curls that bounced as Katara moved.

"Woah! My hair actually looks nice!" Katara's mouth was agape as she stared at herself at the mirror, "You're really good at this stuff, Princess Yue."

"You can call me Yue." Yue chuckled, "It actually feels nice to get to do somebody else's hair for once."

As Katara scrutinized herself at the mirror, swirling occasionally to watch her curls bounce, Yue came back with a pair of white, jeweled heels.

"Here, put these on."

Katara put on each of the heels.

"These shoes are beautiful." Katara said eyeing each shoe with fascination.

"Thank you." Yue replied, "I remember wearing these exact pairs when I visited the southern water tribe to do my announcement."

"Really?" Katara asked.

"Yes, because they reminded me of you, coming from the southern water tribe and all." Yue chuckled, "And they fit perfectly."

Katara smiled at Yue's comment.

"So how long have you and Jet known each other?" Yue asked.

"Since school started." Katara replied, "I thought he was just like the L4, with big-egos and arrogant attitudes, but he's really different from them; he's nice and sincere."

"Jet told me a lot about you, standing up to the L4 and all." Yue said, "You really seemed like an interesting person to me."

_I'm interesting to her? My idol thinks I'm interesting?_

"How long have **you** and Jet known each other for?" Katara asked.

"Since we were five years old." Yue said, "Our parents' were close to each other, so we sort of became really good friends, but we haven't been able to see each other since I've accepted the throne to become princess of the Northern water tribe, so most of the time it was just letters back and forth."

"Oh…" Katara replied, "You must be really busy."

"Very." Yue smiled, "But seeing Jet is the best thing that could happen for me right now because I haven't seen him in person for six whole years."

Katara blushed at Yue's statement.

"So are you ready to go back to the party?" Yue asked.

"Of course." Katara smiled, "Thank you so much."

"Thank **you, **Katara." Yue bowed, "Now let's go."

Katara was surprised when Yue bowed to her, nobody has ever showed that kind of respect to her, in…forever. But the surprise left her, once they excited Yue's dressing room.

Everyone from the bottom of the balcony was watching them as they went down the stairs.

Katara could see Zuko giving her a surprised and an unusually interested stare. Next to Zuko was Jet who was smiling as the two water tribe girls came down the balcony. Unable to keep it in, Katara blushed as Jet looked at her with disbelief at her new make-over; she looked like she was a princess herself.

Teo and Haru nudged Zuko playfully with their elbows.

"She looks like totally different person." Haru whispered to Zuko.

"She actually looks really pretty, doesn't she Zuko?" Teo teased.

"Shut up, Teo." Zuko whispered.

When Yue and Katara reached the bottom of the balcony, everyone clapped except for Zuko who looked at them in slight annoyance.

"Welcome to my arrival party!" Yue announced as the clapping died down, "I want to thank everyone for taking their time to come celebrate my arrival all the way from the Northern Water tribe to Ba Sing Se."

The clapping continued after Yue's announcement.

"Katara would you like to join Jet for a formal dance?" Yue smiled.

Katara heart beat rapidly, after she heard Yue's heart pounding statement.

"O-of course!" Katara blushed.

Katara couldn't believe it; she was actually going to get to have a dance with JET.

Zuko's eyes widened when he heard Katara's reply.

"Music, please." Yue said, clapping her hands.

Katara saw an orchestra play a soothing and relaxing theme. Each of them held violins while some of them had Sungi horns. The song was slow, so it would be easier for Katara.

Jet held out his hand and Katara eagerly took it.

"Just follow me, okay?" Jet smiled.

"O-okay." Katara replied, cheeks becoming a darker red.

Katara blushed even more realizing at what a close proximity she was with Jet; they were inches away from each other. Both her hands were entwined with his bigger ones.

As they began to dance, each took small steps, one at a time, slow-dancing in a traditional way.

_This isn't a dream! This isn't a dream! This isn't a dream!11!1!_

_I'M ACTUALLY DANCING WITH JET…!_

Each second Zuko watched them dance a step farther; he felt an unfamiliar burning rage fill the inside of him. Their close immediacy, Katara's cheerful smile and rosy cheeks on her face, and Jet's calming smile. He wanted to pry Katara and Jet apart so they could stop dancing once and for all.

Katara's heart pounded as she followed Jet's graceful steps. It felt as if she were on top of a cloud with angels singing a harmonizing chorus to her. Looking at Jet's stunning green eyes felt as if they entranced her.

_This is the best day ever!_

Remarkably, Katara spaced out and was totally unaware that her feet were right on top of Jet's as they were dancing.

'Ow my feet.' Jet thought, as the weight of Katara's feet were crushing his.

"Aww, they look so happy together." Haru whispered to Zuko.

Zuko couldn't take this crap anymore; he clenched his fists and stormed out of the building receiving puzzled looks from Haru and Teo. Everybody else but the two L4 didn't notice Zuko leaving.

**x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

**Outside Patio; 7:35 P.M**

Zuko went outside to the same patio with the large fountain realizing nobody else was there. The fire nation prince breathed in trying to let his anger out.

The way Katara looked at Jet's face as she was dancing with him sickened Zuko. He hated it. He hated feeling jealous.

How could Jet have such an effect on a girl like that in several weeks? Zuko tried everything, he offered her his money, his forgiveness, and yet Katara still despised him.

Zuko felt his anger returning as he pictured the images of Katara and Jet, graciously dancing to the music and how close they were to each other.

_Well for starters, Jet is ten-No-100 times the man you are! Second, He actually knows how to be nice! Third, he doesn't think he's the best son of a bitch in the world, unlike you!_

Zuko punched a nearby tree, sending splinters to dig through his fist.

"Stupid…" Zuko whispered to himself.

_I'd never like a haughty scumbag like you let alone have feelings for, so why don't you get it through your thick skull that this world doesn't revolve around your arrogant ass!_

Zuko pulled at the ends of his hair, infuriated by Katara's attitude towards her and especially her attitude towards Jet.

When Zuko was about to kick another object to get his anger out, he tripped over the slippery floor in the patio causing him to fall inside the large fountain which didn't have shallow water. As the water splashed, Zuko was struggling to get out of the deep fountain.

"Somebody help! I can't swim!" Zuko yelled to no one in particular.

**x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

_An eight year old Zuko was sitting across a lake looking at several turtle ducks that swam on it. _

_Since Zuko's stubbornness got the better of him, he reached out to the lake to try to grab one of the ducks, but instead he fell into large mass of water._

"_Help! Somebody please help!"_

**x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

Each time Zuko struggled to get out of the water, he was slowly sinking to the bottom to his death.

**x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

**Ba Sing Se Ceremonial Hall; 7:35 P.M**

After the best dance she's had in a long time, Katara sat down on a nearby chair alone and watched Jet and Yue dance.

Katara watched as the two older teens danced slowly and more proficient than she did with Jet. Looking at the two dance made Katara's heart pang a little. She saw how perfect Jet and Yue looked together, the two of them dancing so graciously and swift, the two of them looked so in-tact, it made Katara feel a bit…jealous.

Katara saw how much sophisticated and attractive Yue looked than her. Yue had more prominent feminine features and a more graceful air to her. She was mature and wise; two things Katara thought she wasn't. Katara thought she was stubborn and short tempered compared to Yue.

As much as Katara admired and respected the northern water tribe princess, she was jealous of her.

_We don't need annoying peasants like you ruining Yue's and Jet's relationship, so why don't you get it through your thick head that those two are much closer than you could ever get with Jet._

_Are Jet and Yue really dating?_

Katara lowered her head and felt a pain of guilt hit her. The way she acted towards Jet was embarrassing and even more, stupid.

Katara sighed and left the ceremonial hall to the patio to get a breath of fresh air.

_Jet and Yue are so lucky to have each other…I hope they last._

Katara closed her eyes and let out an exasperated sigh.

In a matter of seconds Katara could hear a voice screaming for help.

"Somebody help! I can't swim!"

Katara's eyes widened and saw a person struggling to get out of the pool.

"Shit!" Katara whispered to herself.

Katara realized that wasn't just any person, It was Zuko who was slowly drowning to his death. Katara couldn't waste any more time so instead she took off her heels and dived head first into the pool.

When Zuko was about to be completely submerged into the water Katara grabbed him by the arm and pulled the prince out before getting out herself.

Katara saw Zuko, completely drenched in water, hair awkwardly sticking to the sides of his face. His eyes were closed shut, as if he were out cold.

"Shoot…!" Katara shouted, "Hey, Zuko! Wake up!"

Katara slapped the sides of his face, seeing if his eyelids would open but she got no response from the unconscious L4 leader. When Katara was about to go leave for help, she realized that If she left, Zuko could be in danger with no one there to help him.

_Looks like I'm going to have to take matters into my own hands…_

Katara squeezed her eyes shut.

_Okay, Katara, don't freak out! Everyone will be on my head if they realize that Ozai's son died and that I couldn't save him because of my insecurities!_

Katara took a deep breath and reached down until her face was planted against Zuko's, she breathed in. Katara realized his eyes were still closed and let out an aggravated sigh.

_Okay, again!_

Katara breathed into his mouth again and again and again trying to see if Zuko would budge.

When Katara was about to reach down one more time to blow air, she realized that Zuko's eyes were wide open.

"Ah!" Katara gasped.

When Katara was about to get off and make a run for it, Zuko wrapped an arm around her back and pulled her down.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Katara shouted.

Katara saw that Zuko's lips were puckered and pressed, trying to get Katara to kiss him.

"Let me go you-!" Katara slapped Zuko straight on the right side of his cheek and immediately got off him.

After Katara got off him, Zuko sat up and burst into a fit of laughter.

"You think this is funny?" Katara yelled, "You're a sick pervert!"

Katara immediately picked up her shoes and left the patio going back into the ceremonial hall. Wet or not, she didn't care, she just had to get away from Zuko.

**x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

**Ceremonial Hall; 10:25 P.M**

After Katara got dried and changed into different clothes, she explained everything about what happened to Yue and Jet, excluding the 'almost got kissed by Zuko' part.

Katara sat down alone on the edge of a flight of stairs crossing her arms on top of her knees.

_Stupid, stupid, Zuko, thinks he can steal my first kiss, that stupid bastard doesn't know what's going to come to him!_

_Stupid!_

Katara tensed when she heard a couple of voices in a nearby room. Curiosity got the better of her making her peek through the door of the room.

She saw Jet and Yue both sitting on top of a desk inside the room. The two were silent for a while.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Jet questioned.

"It just came up." Yue replied, "The whole North pole is expecting me to come back already."

"But you just came here, why can't you stay any longer?" Jet said.

"It's complicated, my tribe needs me; I have duties to my people." Yue replied.

"You don't get it, six years ago when you left; I felt that a part of me was taken too, something that couldn't be replaced." Jet said, "It hurt a lot when you left all those years ago."

"I know and I'm sorry." Yue said putting her head down, no longer facing Jet.

"No you're not, ever since you left Ba Sing Se to accept the throne, it's been nothing but letters." Jet countered, "You didn't even bother to visit once!"

"Jet!" Yue said, "You're being irrational, you know how much pressure it is, being a royal head of the Northern water tribe? It's stressing, time-absorbing, and it's papers and papers of work every day."

Jet lowered his head onto his hands, not wanting to take in the news.

"Jet, I'm really sorry." Yue said, voice breaking.

Jet raised his head and Yue embraced him in a long hug. He returned the hug and closed his eyes. Then in a second, Jet cupped Yue's face with his hands and kissed her on the lips, making Katara's stomach knot.

_Jet must really…love her._

Katara no longer wanted to eavesdrop on them so instead she turned around and saw Zuko. She immediately jumped up; not realizing Zuko was there the whole time she was eavesdropping on Jet.

"What do you want?" Katara said, crossing her arms, "And if you think you're going to-"

"So you have a big crush on Jet?" Zuko interrupted.

Katara's mouth gaped open for a few seconds.

"I-"

The water tribe teen paused, not knowing what to say to Zuko. It was almost as if she didn't know how to speak.

"So you do?" Zuko concluded.

Katara glared at the fire nation prince, wondering what he was trying to get out of this.

"Well, the secret is safe with me." Zuko mocked, "I wouldn't want to tell Jet because that might ruin his relationship with Yue; and I wouldn't want their long lasting friendship to end just cause some peasant came into the pict-."

"If you're just going to be a nuisance all day, you can excuse me." Katara glowered, pushing Zuko aside.

"Wait-!"

Zuko stopped when Jet and Yue came out of the room they were in.

"Hey, what brings you two out here?" Yue smiled.

Katara's eyes widened and she began to blush nervously.

"Well…I-I was, y'know…I-um…"

"We were going somewhere." Zuko interrupted, wrapping his arm around Katara's shoulders, causing Katara to slightly blush.

"What-?" Katara gasped, pushing Zuko's arm off her shoulders, then paused for a while when she saw Yue and Jet holding hands.

"Me…and um…Zuko, w-were going to do…something." Katara continued; sweat forming around the palms of her hands.

Jet gave Zuko and Katara awkward glances.

"Bye Yue, It was a nice party!" Zuko grinned, grabbing Katara by the arm.

When the two were out of Yue's and Jet's sight, Zuko pulled Katara, dragging her with him.

"Hey! What gives? You're going to pull my arm off!" Katara yelped.

"I was trying to save you from making a total fool of yourself." Zuko replied.

Katara groaned, not liking what Zuko was doing one bit, but it was better than stuttering and blushing in front of Jet all day.

**x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

**The Ceremonial Hall's Bar; 10:35 P.M**

"A bar?" Katara gaped.

Katara realized that the entire place was empty, nobody else was there, except for Zuko, herself, and a bartender who was wiping down a few glasses with a towelette.

"Where's everyone? Wait-! Are you going to do anything bad to me cause if you are-"

"I rented out this place for a month, so it's mines for the time being." Zuko smirked, "And no, I'm not going to rape you, I brought you here so you could ease out all your anger."

"By getting drunk?" Katara shouted, "No way! I'm leaving!"

"Fine, let me go to the bathroom first and we'll leave." Zuko said, "I really need to go."

"Fine, whatever." Katara groaned, sitting on the stools across from the bartender's table.

Katara watched Zuko go inside the men's stall that was across from the table she was sitting at. She glanced at the different drinks that were on display across from her.

_What is wrong with me…?_

Katara thought that this night was going to be a decent one, but instead things didn't go the way she wanted to. Getting harassed by Ozai's Angels, realizing that her crush was going out with the Princess of the Northern Water tribe, and finding out that the Princess herself was leaving soon.

Katara took in a deep breath. She hated feeling this way.

**She hated being jealous.**

"Um, sir." Katara said to the bartender, "I'd like to order."

"What would you like, young lady? Everything is free since Prince Zuko rented this place." The bartender asked, "We've got beer, champaign, wine-"

Katara looked up at the menu of drinks.

"I'd like an extra-large glass of cactus juice."

"Are you sure, cactus juice is really strong and potent, it causes hallucinations, sometimes even severe-"

"I'm sure." Katara repeated, "Just bring it."

**x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

After Zuko flushed and washed his hands he pressed his thumb and index finger onto his nose, realizing what a mess this night has turned into.

"This is so stupid."

_What does Katara see in Jet anyway? He's already taken. He doesn't even see Katara in that way. Why does Katara become so innocent and childlike whenever she sees him?_

_What is in Jet that makes him so good anyways?_

Zuko pressed his fingers onto his scar that surrounded his left eye.

_Do I intimidate her with this?_

Zuko shook his head of the stupid thoughts and left the bathroom only to see Katara's head face down with her hair spread all over the sides.

"What happened over here?" Zuko gasped.

"She urged me to, Prince Zuko! I-I told her all about the side effects and she didn't listen, she-" The bartender cried.

"What did you give her?" Zuko demanded.

"Cactus..." The bartender began, "…juice, the desert variety."

"Cactus juice?" Zuko said, than turned over to the inert Katara.

"Hey! Peasant! Wake up!" Zuko yelled, while shaking her.

Katara lazily flipped her head side up, facing Zuko. She had a seductive smirk on her face.

"Katara…?" Zuko nervously said.

"Owwwuh myy gawsh…" Katara groaned, "Why-why you, you-Zukooooo!"

Zuko raised his eyebrows, surprised at the slurred speech Katara was speaking in.

"Wahyyy isit, that-that ughhh-ehvurytime that…I seeee youuu…" Katara paused, then suddenly flopped her head back down.

After what seemed like a minute, Katara raised her head, facing Zuko again.

"Ehvury…time, I-I see yewww, yew awlwayz haff to make my lyfe…uh livin helluhhh!" Katara groaned, "Yurr always harrassinn meee, and and, ruinnin mahh schewll year aht Na Sing Se…I-I mean Ba Sing Se..hiiiighh?"

Katara didn't say anything for a while, making Zuko worry even more.

"Katara!"

"ZUKO!" Katara shouted, then broke into a fit of laughter, "There's-There's sumfthing…on yerr faceehh Preence Zuko."

"What?"

"THERRRRSS SUMFTHING ON YERRR FACEHH." Katara yelled, her drunken state thinking that Zuko couldn't hear.

All of a sudden, Katara face palmed Zuko on the forehead.

"Ow!" Zuko yelped.

"Theeyree, eye got it!" Katara giggled, before slumping her head down again.

"Katara, you're starting to scare the crap out of me." Zuko said, rubbing his forehead, then glared at the bartender, "How much cactus juice did you give her?"

"I told you, a large." The bartender replied, "I couldn't refuse to give it to her…I-I mean you have to satisfy your costumers, right?"

"Not to this extent, you dumbass!" Zuko groaned, "Now what am I supposed to do, she's too drunk to walk on her own."

The bartender winced at his sudden cursing.

"SHhhhHHhhHHhhHhHHHHhhh!" Katara hushed, "ZuZu!"

Zuko's eyes widened.

"Zuzu…Zuko…evhurying-thing hash been gowing wrang ferr meh." Katara sighed, "Jeht…and Yue…arehh together, buht…I-I can't dew anything abouwt ett, It breahks muh heart everyytime I seeeh them, becuzz I hahd ah thing fer Jet…but now…now…"

"Now…?" Zuko urged.

Katara exaggeratedly pointed her hand towards Zuko's face only for it to fall on Zuko's shoulder.

"…now…yyerr the onez thatss on my mind Preence Zuzu!" Katara announced, shaking Zuko by the shoulders, "Yer the one…yer my soulmate prince zuzu! Yer the one that's been luuking ouwt fer me, no mahttur how harduh thingz can-can g-get!"

Katara hiccupped, than put threw head down once again.

"Katara?"

Katara raised her head up and gave Zuko a sexy, erotic smile. Zuko blushed at the sudden expression.

"…yerr the one fer me…" Katara said, "Zuzu…."

Katara slowly licked her lips, making a loud slurping noise. She went close to Zuko, puckering her lips.

Zuko's eyes widened, even causing the eye on his sccared side to widen up too.

"Katara…what are you doing?"

"…I luhv yew, Prince Zuko…."

When Katara was about to press her lips against Zuko's, she felt a thumping sensation in her stomach. Her stomach got the better of her and a large force of liquid came right out of her mouth right onto Zuko's lap.

"AGH!" Zuko shouted.

Katara just vomited on Zuko.

**x KODOCHII - KODOCHII – KODOCHII x**

** MUWHAHAHAHA! Another Cliffie! This chapter actually came out some-what well! (I've been working all day and yesterday on it.) From now on, I'm going to try to upload chapters faster for the sake of you guys :D (Not once every month!)**

**Oh if any of you are curious about how old some of the characters are in my story…**

**Katara: 16**

**Aang: 15**

**Toph: 15**

**Teo: 17**

**Haru: 17**

**Jet: 18**

**Zuko: 18**

**Yue: 20**

**I wanted to make Yue older because she seemed more like a mature character in the A:TLA series IMO. :D**

**So thank you for reading! And I'm going to start working on my next chap pretty soon! :D**


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